Perspectives

Opinions on and about gene drive technologies and their uses.

Opinion: A cautionary tale of experimenting with genetically modified mosquitoes in Uganda

Barbara Ntambirweki,  The Independent,  2024.
The Uganda Virus Research Institute is pressing forward with gene drive technology which provides a way to rapidly, permanently, and genetically modify wild animals or plants. Gene drive organisms, are a genetically modified organism (GMO) designed to spread a genetic ...
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Otago GE Wasp Project Violates International Gene Drive Agreement

GE-Free NZ,  Scoop,  2024.
Professor Dearden, Otago University, has received $11 million from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise (MBIE) to engineer wasps using gene drive technology. He is only consulting with Māori and regulators, ignoring and side-lining the views of other concerned New ...
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Perspectives of African stakeholders on gene drives for malaria control and elimination: a multi-country survey

Finda, M.F., Juma, E.O., Kahamba, N.F. et al.,  Malaria Journal,  22:8384. 2023.
Gene drive modified mosquitoes (GDMMs) have the potential to address Africa’s persistent malaria problem, but are still in early stages of development and testing. Continuous engagement of African stakeholders is crucial for successful evaluation and implementation of these ...
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Can Gene Drive Address Health and Conservation Challenges in the Philippines?

Kristine Grace N. Tome,  Science Speaks,  2023.
ISAAA Inc., in partnership with the Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research and the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC), gathered approximately 834 online participants during the webinar Genetic Tools for Conservation and Health: What's the Role of Gene Drives? ...
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New Techniques of Genetic Modification in Pest Control Spark Debate in Canada

Sandeep Kunchikor,  Express Healthcare Management,  2023.
Scientists in Canada are urging serious discussions on the use of genetic modification as a new technique in pest control. In a recent report by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, a branch of Health Canada that regulates pesticide use, experts argue that genetic modification ...
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Scientific report urges debate on genetic modification to control insect pests

Bob Weber,  CTV News,  2023.
Scientists are learning to turn the genetics of insect pests against themselves, altering the genome of familiar foes in ways that give farmers and doctors new ways to fight them. The burgeoning field offers fresh hope against old scourges such as malaria. And it could provide ...
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Gene drive in plants emerges from infancy

M. J. A. Awan, R. Z. Naqvi, I. Amin and S. Mansoor,  Trends in Plant Science,  2023.
Selfish genetic elements (SGEs) display biased transmission to offspring. However, their breeding potential has remained obscure. Wang et al. recently reported a natural gene-drive system that can be harnessed to prevent hybrid incompatibility and to develop a synthetic ...
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The double-edged sword effect of expanding Wolbachia deployment in dengue endemic settings

M. G. Pavan, G. A. Garcia, M. R. David and R. Maciel-de-Freitas,  The Lancet Regional Health - Americas,  27:100610. 2023.
We can use Brazil as a showcase to foresee and avoid a double-edged sword effect associated with Wolbachia releases. Insecticide resistance of native Ae. aegypti populations is spread worldwide (http://aedes.irmapper.com), and positive results should boost Wolbachia deployment in ...
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Engineered and natural gene drives: mechanistically the same, yet not same in kind

R. F. Medina and J. Kuzma,  Nature Communications,  14:5994. 2023.
We propose the use of the terms natural gene drive (NGD) and engineered gene drive (EGD) arguing against James et al.1, who think both should be included within the term “gene drive”, based on their mechanistic similarities. Thanks to CRISPR-Cas-based gene editing, engineered ...
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Unleashing the swarm: Battling the global mosquito menace and defending public health

J. Entine and S. Moxon,  Genetic Literacy Project,  2023.
There is one solution embraced by global health experts that should be pursued aggressively, if with some caution. Scientists in real-world trials have altered the genomes of entire animal populations, including mosquitoes, to thwart the vectoring of diseases and control pests ...
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Guerrilla eugenics: gene drives in heritable human genome editing

A. D. Cutter,  J Med Ethics,  2023.
CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing can and has altered human genomes, bringing bioethical debates about this capability to the forefront of philosophical and policy considerations. Here, I consider the underexplored implications of CRISPR-Cas9 gene drives for heritable human genome ...
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Malaria Cases In U.S. Trigger Unfounded Claims About Bill Gates, Mosquito Project

B. Y. Lee,  Forbes,  2023.
When the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an alert about finding four malaria cases in Florida and one malaria case in Texas, it created quite a buzz. After all, these were the first reported cases of people actually catching malaria in the U.S. since ...
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Off Target: Gene Drives and the Balance of Life

Save Our Seeds,  2023.
This is a compilation of conversations with experts about gene drive technologies and the science/social questions it raises.
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Worldwide Experts on Gene Drives

Save Our Seeds,  2023.
We are travelling the world speaking to some of the world's leading thinkers, activists and academics on the impact of gene drives. Join us for this video series as we hear from a diverse range of experts on one of the most controversial new emerging technologies that we face.
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Is Bill Gates Releasing Millions of GMO Mosquitoes?!

A. Wong,  Tech ARP,  2023.
Claim : Bill Gates Is Releasing Millions Of GMO Mosquitoes! People are sharing a World Mosquito Program video as evidence that Bill Gates is manufacturing and releasing 30 million genetically-mosquitoes every week, from his mosquito factory in Colombia.
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Generation game: gene-edited mosquitos to fight malaria

J. Opara,  Sci Dev Net,  2023.
Population-level changes in the genetic make-up of one of the world’s deadliest animals could provide a key in the fight against malaria, proponents of a radical new technology argue. So-called gene drive technology, where genetic changes are passed down through generations, ...
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Cell biology: Selfish B chromosomes unleashed by a dysfunctional chromosome segregation system

P. Ferree,  Current Biology,  33:R431-R434. 2023.
A study in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster shows that a defective chromosome segregation system allows non-essential B chromosomes to transmit at higher-than-Mendelian frequencies.
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Genetically Engineered Mosquito experiment in California’s Central Valley halted

H. Bourque,  Friends of the Earth,  2023.
In a victory for environmentalists, scientists and vulnerable agricultural communities across California, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announced yesterday the withdrawal of a permit request for a mass release of experimental genetically engineered ...
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Editorial: Genetic control of insect pest species—achievements, challenges, and perspectives

I. Häcker, D. Bartsch, A. Choo and F. Marec,  Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology,  11. 2023.
Genetic control is a type ofbiological control and a promising approach to regulate insect pest populations in a species-specific manner. It is based on targeting the reproductive capacity of the target pest species to reduce population size to non-critical levels. The best known ...
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Probing “Selfish” Centromeres Unveils an Evolutionary Arms Race

M. Lampson,  The Scientist,  2023.
The so-called Robertsonian (Rb) fusions that led to these rapid karyotype changes are relatively common chromosomal rearrangements. But their accumulation in the populations of Madeira Island and in multiple other isolated mouse populations elsewhere is likely due to another ...
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