Gene drives and the expanding horizon of governance

E. Fisher,  Journal of Responsible Innovation,  5:S1-S3. 2018.

Like other areas of emerging science and technology that trigger prolonged public debate over their transformative prospects, gene drives simultaneously generate prospects for new knowledge, hoped-for benefits, and formidable concerns (e.g. Cohen 2017; ETC Group 2017; Nature 2017). Their ability to bias inheritance of and in theory spread a genetic trait throughout an entire population of organisms—even to the point of extinction—is driving home the need for their responsible governance. Significantly, it is also driving home the need to develop capacities for such governance.