Teach Me in 10 – Gene Drive Research with Dr. Jennifer Baltzegar
Teach Me in 10 – Gene Drive Research with Dr. Jennifer Baltzegar
Tags: Agriculture, Biodiversity/Conservation, Gene drive synthetic, HistoryJ. Baltzegar, Technology Networks, 2020.
In this week’s installment of Teach Me in 10, we are joined by Dr Jennifer Baltzegar, a population geneticist with international interdisciplinary research experience currently working as a postdoctoral research fellow at North Carolina State University.
Dr Baltzegar talks us through a topical area of research – gene drives. A gene drive is a selfish genetic construct that spreads rapidly through a population and can be used to reduce the environmental impact of pests. You might have heard about gene drives in the media lately as there are many discussions taking place as to how this research can be taken from the laboratory and implemented into society ethically.
Dr Baltzegar teaches us about how the maturation of genetic engineering approaches has advanced gene drives, the two different strategies for gene drives and some of the key questions surrounding the application of gene drives in society.
