Baker: New tools can change mosquitoes’ DNA, but should it be done?
Baker: New tools can change mosquitoes’ DNA, but should it be done?
Tags: Anopheles, Dengue, Gene drive, Genetically modified mosquitoes, Genetically modified organisms, MalariaK. Baker, Fremont News Messenger, 2023.
Suppose Sauron — or perhaps Gandalf — were to offer you a magical golden ring with the power to rid the world of mosquitoes once and for all. And with their demise, to save countless human lives from the many diseases for which mosquitoes are the sole or primary vectors: Malaria, dengue, West Nile virus, chikungunya, yellow fever, filariasis, tularemia, encephalitis, Zika fever, Keystone Virus, Rift Valley Fever…And not just mosquitoes. From within the folds of his cloak the wizard draws out an array of equally luminous rings with the power to cure genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, and Down’s syndrome, to rid cities of mice and rats, and free the world’s farms of weeds and insect pests without the use of pesticides. Would you take them? Those rings exist and are now being refined and tested in the Elvin forges of academic, commercial, and government research facilities around the world. They go by various names, but collectively may be referred to as CRISPR-Cas Genome Editing Systems.
