Could genetic engineering save the Galapagos?
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S. S. Hall,
Scientific American,
2017.
Campbell, a 42-year-old Australian who has lived in the Galápagos Islands for 20 years, is a gregarious and outgoing fellow, with a tendency to begin conversations with “All good, mate?” But the cheery demeanor and bonhomie he displayed that morning is an essential part of a massive scientific undertaking. Campbell has a Ph.D. in vertebrate pest management from the University of Queensland in Australia, and in 2006 he began working as an animal removal specialist for Island Conservation, an organization based in Santa Cruz, Calif., that is devoted to preserving biodiversity and preventing extinctions by removing invasive species from islands throughout the world. Campbell has been working on eradications in the Galápagos since 1997, including a 2006 campaign to remove all the feral goats and donkeys from Floreana. A decade later he’s a project manager with Island Conservation, and the most ambitious project on its agenda is once again on Floreana: to eradicate every single rat and mouse on the island. More related to this: Yes we can! Exciting progress and prospects for controlling invasives on islands and beyond Sustainability as a framework for considering gene drive mice for invasive rodent eradication Developing gene drive technologies to eradicate invasive rodents from islands Towards the genetic control of invasive species
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