Extreme GM “extinction technology” of gene drives presented as “natural”
Extreme GM “extinction technology” of gene drives presented as “natural”
Tags: Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Population modification/replacementGM Watch, GM Watch, 2022.
Now similar Orwellian moves are happening in the area of gene drives. A gene drive is a genetic engineering technology that forces a particular genetic modification through a population by changing the natural rules of inheritance, usually to ensure that it is increasingly – or always – inherited. Gene drive organisms are built to intentionally spread their engineered traits through an entire population, turning on its head the usual imperative to try to contain and prevent engineered genes from contaminating and disrupting ecosystems. They can be designed to re-model or delete entire species. Gene drive technology is deeply unpopular and rightly feared by the public and regulators. It is against this background that in recent years, some researchers have begun to describe so-called “selfish genetic elements” found in nature* as “natural gene drives” and to present gene drive as a “ubiquitous natural phenomenon”.