Mr Luke Gierus
PhD Candidate
School of Biomedicine
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Dr. Luke Gierus is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Adelaide. His research focuses on developing humane ways to control invasive rodent populations by modifying natural meiotic drive systems. By studying how certain genes influence inheritance, he aims to create targeted genetic control methods that are both effective and environmentally responsible. His research has broad applications in conservation and pest management, contributing to the development of sustainable and ethical genetic control technologies.
Luke's research is centred around developing novel gene drive methods to humanely suppress invasive rodent populations. These strategies utilise CRISPR/Cas9 and the t haplotype system to create a gene drive while investigating control strategies.
Luke also has a keen interest in modifying and improving CRISPR/Cas9 and similar systems including prime editing and base editing.
Members of the Genome Editing Laboratory, 2020: Ashleigh Geiger, Dr Gelshan Godahewa, Ya-han Kang, Joshua Chey, Professor Paul Thomas, Michaela Scherer, Jayshen Arudkumar, Dr Chandran Pfitzner, Caleb Lushington, Luke Gierus, Melissa White, Sandra Sandra Piltz, Dr Mark Bunting,
Not pictured: Dr Fatwa Adikusuma, Dr Stefka Tahseva.
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Language Competencies
Language Competency English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2020 - 2024 University of Adelaide Australia Doctor of Philosophy 2019 - 2019 The University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Science (Honours) 2016 - 2018 The University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Science (Advanced) -
Certifications
Date Title Institution name Country 2017 Faculty of Sciences Outstanding Academic Achievement Award The University of Adelaide - 2016 Faculty of Sciences Outstanding Academic Achievement Award The University of Adelaide - -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2025 Chey, Y. C. J., Gierus, L., Lushington, C., Arudkumar, J. C., B. Geiger, A., Staker, L. G., . . . Thomas, P. Q. (2025). Optimal SpCas9- and SaCas9-mediated gene editing by enhancing gRNA transcript levels through scaffold poly-T tract reduction. BMC Genomics, 26(1), 12 pages.
Scopus12024 Piaggio, A. J., Gierus, L., Taylor, D. R., Holmes, N. D., Will, D. J., Gemmell, N. J., & Thomas, P. Q. (2024). Building an eDNA surveillance toolkit for invasive rodents on islands: can we detect wild-type and gene drive Mus musculus?. BMC Biology, 22(1), 12 pages.
Scopus12024 Bunting, M. D., Godahewa, G. I., McPherson, N. O., Robertson, L. J., Gierus, L., Piltz, S. G., . . . Thomas, P. Q. (2024). Investigating the potential of X chromosome shredding for mouse genetic biocontrol. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 14 pages.
2022 Gierus, L., Birand, A., Bunting, M., Godahewa, G., Piltz, S., Oh, K., . . . Thomas, P. (2022). Leveraging a natural murine meiotic drive to suppress invasive populations.
2022 Bunting, M. D., Pfitzner, C., Gierus, L., White, M., Piltz, S., & Thomas, P. Q. (2022). Generation of Gene Drive Mice for Invasive Pest Population Suppression.. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 2495, 203-230.
Scopus6 Europe PMC52022 Gierus, L., Birand, A., Bunting, M. D., Godahewa, G. I., Piltz, S. G., Oh, K. P., . . . Thomas, P. Q. (2022). Leveraging a natural murine meiotic drive to suppress invasive populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, 119(46), 1-11.
Scopus22 WoS5 Europe PMC122021 Adikusuma, F., Lushington, C., Arudkumar, J., Godahewa, G. I., Chey, Y. C. J., Gierus, L., . . . Thomas, P. Q. (2021). Optimized nickase- and nuclease-based prime editing in human and mouse cells. Nucleic Acids Research, 49(18), 10785-10795.
Scopus51 WoS26 Europe PMC30 -
Preprint
Year Citation 2024 Chey, Y., Gierus, L., Lushington, C., Arudkumar, J., Geiger, A., Staker, L., . . . Adikusuma, F. (2024). Enhancing gRNA Transcript levels by Reducing the Scaffold Poly-T Tract for Optimal SpCas9- and SaCas9-mediated Gene Editing.
DOI2021 Adikusuma, F., Lushington, C., Arudkumar, J., Godahewa, G., Chey, Y. C. J., Gierus, L., . . . Thomas, P. (2021). Optimized nickase- and nuclease-based prime editing in human and mouse cells.
DOI
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