Perspectives
This is a curated collection of scholarly and non-scholarly materials that can be found in the Scholarly Literature and Media Coverage databases that are ‘opinion-heavy.’ This collection is intended to capture the full range of thought and opinion about gene drive technologies.
SHOULD WE CREATE GENE DRIVE GREY SQUIRRELS
Tags: Biodiversity/Conservation, Gene drive, Gene drive syntheticS. Hartley and T. Law, GeneDriveGovernance.org, 2022.
UK scientists have proposed gene drive as a management tool to control grey squirrels. Now is a good time to talk about this emerging technology because the hopes and concerns of experts, stakeholders and the public can help to determine if or how it might be developed. To help ...
WORLDWIDE: EXPERTS ON GENE DRIVES
Tags: Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Policy, Risk and safety, Risk assessmentStop Gene Drive, STOP GENE DRIVES, 2022.
We are travelling the world speaking to some of the world’s leading thinkers, activists and academics on the impact of gene drives. We interviewed more than 20 experts from around the world
Externalities modulate the effectiveness of the Wolbachia release programme
Tags: Aedes, Arbovirus, Dengue, Modeling, Population modification/replacement, WolbachiaE. E. Ooi and A. Wilder-Smith, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2022.
Despite the remarkable outcome in Yogyakarta, the wMel approach also has some challenges. In particular, the extent to which ecological, weather, and other external factors influence the dissemination and establishment of wMel in complex urban environments remains unclear. ...
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 – ...
Humans Have a Long History of Making ‘Very Bad Decisions’ to Save Animals
Tags: Biodiversity/Conservation, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrol, Genetically modified mosquitoes, MalariaT. McDonnell, The New York Times, 2022.
Environmental reporter Tim McDonnell on the potential negative consequences of animal conservation efforts. McDonnell highlights Target Malaria’s research on gene drive to “eliminate malaria-carrying mosquitos” and quotes New Zealand researcher Philipp Messer saying that ...
Toward product-based regulation of crops
Tags: Agriculture, Gene editing, Genetically modified organisms, Policy, RegulationF. Gould, R. M. Amasino, D. Brossard, C. R. Buell, R. A. Dixon, J. B. Falck-Zepeda, M. A. Gallo, K. E. Giller, L. L. Glenna, T. Griffin, D. Magraw, C. Mallory-Smith, K. V. Pixley, E. P. Ransom, D. M. Stelly and C. N. Stewart, Science, 377:1051-1053. 2022.
Current process-based approaches to regulation are no longer fit for purpose Much effort has been expended globally over the past four decades to craft and update country-specific and multinational safety regulations that can be applied to crops developed by genetic engineering ...
Outbreaks of arboviruses, biotechnological innovations and vector control: facing the unexpected
Tags: Aedes, Arbovirus, Dengue, Genetic biocontrol, Genetically modified mosquitoesC. Boëte, Innovative Strategies for Vector Control, 6:219-231. 2022.
Outbreaks of arboviruses have occurred in the last decades in many places around the world and a variety of responses have been taken in order to control them. Responses ranged from vaccination campaigns to the use of conventional vector control methods. Innovative approaches ...
Natural selfish genetic elements should not be defined as gene drives
Tags: Gene drive, Policy, Regulation, Risk and safetyM. A. Wells and R. A. Steinbrecher, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119:e2201142119. 2022.
Gene drives are increasingly discussed in the political realm,and how the term is defined therefore has important impli-cations. The opinion piece from Alphey et al. (1) identifies alack of consensus on the definition and makes explicitchanges in how the terminology is being used ...
What can we learn from selfish loci that break Mendel’s law?
Tags: Fruit fly, Selfish genetic elements, Transmission distortionS. E. Zanders, PLOS Biology, 20:e3001700. 2022.
Mendel’s law of segregation provides a critical foundation for genetic inquiry It is not, however, without exceptions Historically, 2 such exceptions (sex chromosome linkage and chromosome missegregation in meiosis) were used by Drosophila geneticists to help demonstrate ...
Mendel’s laws of heredity on his 200th birthday: What have we learned by considering exceptions?
Tags: History, Transmission distortionJ. B. Wolf, A. C. Ferguson-Smith and A. Lorenz, Heredity, 129:1-3. 2022.
Violations of Mendel’s laws can generically be referred to as ‘non-Mendelian inheritance’. However, from that broad perspective, nearly all inheritance systems would show non-Mendelian inheritance (at least to some degree). To hold exactly, Mendel’s laws impose strict ...
New weapons to fight malaria transmission: A historical view
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, History, Malaria, Other SymbiontsW. Huang, S.-J. Cha and M. Jacobs-Lorena, Entomological Research, 2022.
The stagnation of our fight against malaria in recent years, mainly due to the development of mosquito insecticide resistance, argues for the urgent development of new weapons. The dramatic evolution of molecular tools in the last few decades led to a better understanding of ...
The Financialisation of Malaria in Africa: Burkina Faso, rogue capital & GM/gene drive mosquitoes
Tags: Africa, Gene drive synthetic, Genetically modified mosquitoes, Malaria, Policy, Target malariaS. Mentz-Lagrange and S. Swanepoel, African Centre for Biodiversity, 2022.
This paper seeks to understand the financialisation of malaria as a vehicle for rogue capital in a context of a weakened state (through capture, corruption and coups) and the power that limits effective interventions. It shows how malaria, along with other diseases, is ...
Gene-drive mosquitoes, a prospect for future malaria control
Tags: Africa, Anopheles, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Replicator/site directed nucleaseS. A. Monawwer, A. O. I. Alzubaidi, F. Yasmin, S. M. Q. Haimour, S. M. I. Shay and I. Ullah, Pan African Medical Journal, 41:2-6. 2022.
Despite major developments in malaria control over the past two decades, the disease continues to scourge the human population across the globe. Rising concerns such as insecticide resistance amongst vector mosquitoes are a cause of huge fear amongst healthcare providers and ...
Uncle Sam’s Dangerous Game
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Genetically modified mosquitoes, North America, OxitecX. Ping, XINHUANET, 2021.
Since the very beginning, residents in Florida Keys doubted if the “self-limiting” gene of Genetically Modified (GM) mosquitoes brought and released there by Oxitec, a biotech firm, and approved by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Florida Keys Mosquito Control ...
Gene drive: a faster route to plant improvement
Tags: Agriculture, CRISPR, Gene drive synthetic, Gene editingH. A. Siddiqui, T. Harvey-Samuel and S. Mansoor, Trends in Plant Science, 2021.
Gene drives for control of vector-borne diseases have been demonstrated in insects but remain challenging in plants. Theoretically, they could be transformative in speeding breeding programs and contributing to food security through providing novel weed control methods. Zhang et ...
Gene drive revolution: How genetically tweaked mosquitoes could tip the balance in the battle to contain malaria
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Mosquitoes, Target malariaF. Okumu, Genetic Literacy Project, 2021.
In 2016, a World Health Organisation (WHO) panel concluded that even with the best use of current approaches, there would still be 11 million malaria cases in 2050. What’s needed are longer-term integrated strategies to complement current methods. These may include large-scale ...
Calling the latest gene technologies ‘natural’ is a semantic distraction — they must still be regulated
Tags: Ethics, Genetically modified organisms, Governance, Policy, Regulation, Risk and safetyJ. A. Heinemann, D. J. Paull, S. Walker and B. Kurenbach, The Conversation, 2021.
Legislators around the world are being asked to reconsider how to regulate the latest developments in gene technology, genome editing and gene silencing. Both the European Court of Justice and the New Zealand High Court have ruled that genome editing techniques should remain ...
The viral era
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Governance, Policy, Regulation, Risk and safety, Risk assessmentB. Giese, EMBO reports, 22:e53229. 2021.
New biotechnologies such as gene drives and engineered viruses herald a viral era that would give humans exceptional power over any organism at the level of the genotype. In synthetic biology, orthogonality—in the sense of lack of interference—between different systems or ...
Africa must not rest until Malaria rests: What is the role of emerging technologies?
Tags: Africa, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, MosquitoesR. Oronje, AFIDEP, 2021.
As we mark the World Mosquito Day today, it is a sad reminder that Malaria still kills hundreds of thousands of people every year, majority of these people in Africa. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Malaria killed 409,000 people in 2019, and 94% of these deaths ...
The Complex Lives of Mosquitoes: The Key for Malaria Control
Tags: Anopheles, Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrol, Malaria, MosquitoesF. Okumu, ISGlobal, 2021.
Mosquitoes spread diseases to millions of people around the world, yet they remain poorly understood by most. Studying their biology and behaviours can help us combat, and eventually eliminate, dangerous diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.There are nearly 3,500 species of ...
New mosquito control tools are critical
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrol, History, Malaria, MosquitoesL. Braack, Open Access Government, 2021.
Globally, we are making slow headway in the fight against malaria, but there has been progress, nonetheless. Since 2000, 39 countries and territories have managed to rid themselves of malaria; the most recent is China. Existing tools can achieve local elimination, but the battle ...
Invasive Mice and Engineered Genes
Tags: Biodiversity/Conservation, Gene drive synthetic, Invasive speciesW. M. Adams and K. H. Redford, Yale University Press Blog, 2021.
On Gough Island, a steep speck of land deep in the South Atlantic, giant mice eat albatross chicks as they sit on their nests. They are house mice, accidental arrivals on the ships of long-dead sealers. But they have lost their secretive, timid, mousy ways. Over numerous ...
2021 WHO guidelines on genetically modified mosquitoes
Tags: Ethics, Gene drive synthetic, Genetically modified mosquitoes, Policy, RegulationM. Makoni, The Lancet Microbe, 2:e353. 2021.
On May 19, 2021, WHO updated its guidelines for research and development on genetically modified mosquitoes, which define the standards for decision-making about how and when testing should proceed and describe best practices to ensure that research done in a public health ...
Host-associated differentiation of target pests should be assessed before using gene drive as a pest control tool – an opinion
Tags: Agriculture, Population suppressionR. F. Medina, Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 2021.
Abstract Advances in gene editing have made feasible the potential use of gene drive for pest control. Ecological risk assessments will certainly be required before this technology can be released into open fields. In this article I argue for the importance to include ...
Selfish DNA: how new gene technology could stop the advance of mice
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrol, Oceania, Rodents, X chromosomeM. McMillan, Tentenfield Star, 2021.
It used to be that seeing a mouse in the house was a rare occurrence. Now, it's rarely a day that goes by where we aren't seeing or hearing the little vermin. Current methods of baiting and trapping are struggling to control the plague of mice spreading across regional ...
Living With the Limits of Our New Clerisy’s Knowledge
Tags: Ethics, Gene drive synthetic, Policy, RegulationR. Fernandez, PJ Media, 2021.
We are living in a strange time when reason has fallen short of human expectations and there is, once again, pressure to place our trust in faith. Leighton Woodhouse hit the nail on the head when he argued that we have appointed a New Clerisy to rule over us, not because they are ...
Why the EU should back research into gene drive – even if Europe never uses it
Tags: Europe, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Mosquitoes, Policy, RegulationR. Müller, The Brussels Times, 2021.
As the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy reaches the European Parliament, it has reopened a worrying debate about research into gene drive technology, a tool which could pave the way for biasing the inheritance of desired genetic traits through targeted species. Advances in this kind ...
Drivers of mosquito mating
Tags: Anopheles, Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrol, Pest management, Sterile insect technique (SIT)N. C. Manoukis, Science, 371:340. 2021.
Gene drive systems are based on the release of organisms whose genomes have been modified or engineered to spread a desired allele or trait (such as resistance to the parasites that cause malaria) through a population. Success will depend on the release of genetically modified ...
Mutagenic chain reaction cannot be sufficiently controlled
Tags: Europe, Gene drive synthetic, Policy, Regulation, Risk and safetyChristoph Then, Testbiotech, 2020.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published the results of its public consultation on the risks of so-called gene drive organisms. Testbiotech accuses the authority of disguising the real dimension of the risks. Gene drives are designed to spread artificial genetic ...
The ethical way to alter organisms
Tags: Ethics, Gene drive synthetic, Policy, Regulation, Risk and safetyK. Esvelt, Boston Globe, 2020.
As my colleagues and I first described in 2014, we can use CRISPR genome editing to duplicate the most powerful form of “gene drive,” a ubiquitous natural phenomenon that happens when a genetic change is inherited more frequently than usual. Encode the CRISPR machinery next ...
Advances in genetic engineering test democracy’s capacity for good decision-making
Tags: Gene drive, Genetic biocontrol, Policy, Regulation, Risk and safety, Stakeholder engagementN. Kofler and R. Taitingfong, Boston Globe, 2020.
New advances in genetic engineering and their application for environmental conservation and public health are further testing our democracy’s capacity for good decision-making. With minimal public input, the Environmental Protection Agency recently approved the release of ...
Driven to Exterminate
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrol, Target malariaZ. Moloo and J. Thomas, etc group, 2020.
Gates’s ‘let’s deploy it’ response may not seem out of character, but it was an unusually gung ho response given how risky the technology is widely acknowledged to be.
Do Africans Want Genetically Modified Mosquitoes?
Tags: Africa, Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrol, Policy, Regulation, Stakeholder engagementU. Effiong, The Pursuit, 2020.
The recent publication by fellow Nigerian scientists—Patricia Okorie and colleagues—originally drew my attention to the issue of GMMs.
Global citizen deliberation on genome editing
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Gene editing, Governance, Policy, Regulation, Stakeholder engagementJ. S. Dryzek, D. Nicol, S. Niemeyer, S. Pemberton, N. Curato, A. Bächtiger, P. Batterham, B. Bedsted, S. Burall, M. Burgess, G. Burgio, Y. Castelfranchi, H. Chneiweiss, G. Church, M. Crossley, J. de Vries, M. Farooque, M. Hammond, B. He, R. Mendonça, J., Science, 369:1435. 2020.
Here we show how, as the global governance vacuum is filled, deliberation by a global citizens' assembly should play a role, for legitimate and effective governance.
Why the UK could end up deploying risky gene drives while ignoring natural biological control
Tags: Biodiversity/Conservation, Gene drive synthetic, Invasive species, Regulation, RodentsJ. Mathews, GM Watch, 2020.
First they cloned Dolly the sheep. Now they’re targeting grey squirrels
Do Africans need genetically modified mosquitoes?
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Genetically modified organisms, Malaria, Oxitec, Stakeholder engagement, Sterile insect technique (SIT)genetically modified, mosquito, oxitec, autocidal, SIT, perspective, malaria, gene drive synthetic, engagement,, Mail and Guardian, 2020.
The following is an updated version of an article I wrote for the University of Michigan Risk Science Centre a while ago:
Viewpoint: Is there a scientific basis to ban gene drive technology that can rid us of virus-carrying rodents and mosquitoes?
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Policy, Risk assessment, RodentsK. Vavitas, Genetic Literacy Project, 2020.
Gene drives may be invaluable tools to control the spread of parasites, invasive species, and disease carriers. But the technology has faced strong opposition from activist groups and some mainstream scientists based on environmental and food safety. Are these concerns valid?
Cytoplasmic incompatibility: an autocidal mechanism for mosquito population control
Tags: Aedes, Culex, Cytoplasmic incompatibility, Population suppression, WolbachiaV. Dev, BugBitten BMC, 2020.
Cytoplasmic incompatibility resulting in non-reciprocal fertility is a naturally occurring phenomenon, but remains unexplored to greater extent for the control of insect vector populations. This mechanism deserves priority for mosquito control and reducing disease transmission, ...
CRISPR gene drives could eliminate many vector-driven pests and diseases, but challenges remain
Tags: Fruit fly, Gene drive synthetic, Genetics, Replicator/site directed nuclease, ResistanceJ. Champer, Genetic Literacy Project, 2020.
A functioning gene drive system could fundamentally change our strategies for the control of vector-borne diseases by facilitating rapid dissemination of transgenes that prevent pathogen transmission or reduce vector capacity. CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive promises such a mechanism, ...
An argument for gene drive technology to genetically control populations of insects like mosquitoes and locusts
Tags: Agriculture, Gene drive syntheticI. Ronai and B. Lovett, The Conversation, 2020.
The fate of society rests in part on how humans navigate their complicated relationship with insects – trying to save “good” insects and control “bad” ones. Some insects, like mosquitoes, bite people and make them sick – remember Zika? Now the U.S. mosquito season is ...
Socrates Untenured: Ethics, Experts, and the Public in the Synthetic Age
Tags: Ethics, Gene drive synthetic, Gene editing, Genetically modified organisms, Synthetic biologyC. Preston, ISSUES in Science and Technology, 2020.
C. Preston (2020). Three tools have transformed biotechnology over the past decade and a half. Gene reading has made it possible to quickly sequence the genome of any living creature. Gene synthesis has made it possible to construct DNA sequences in the lab from constituent ...
Three innovative technologies stopping malaria
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Target malariaB. Muni, The Borgen Project, 2020.
Malaria has plummeted by 40% fifteen years after 2000. A report that NCBI published attributed this to mosquito preventative measures like bed netting and insecticides. These interventions and practices, like wearing light color clothing, help at-risk populations fight malaria. ...
Beyone the buzz
Tags: Genetic biocontrol, Genetically modified mosquitoes, North America, Oxitec, Sterile insect technique (SIT)C. Watson, The Journal Gazette, 2020.
Lately I have found I need to force myself to follow science stories about something besides the pandemic. A story I consider hopeful involves genetically modified mosquitoes; we are developing a new tool that can reduce disease and save lives. The goal is to dramatically ...
Please support a global moratorium on the environmental release of gene drive organisms
Tags: Gene drive syntheticJ. Riss, J. Munic and B. Harlin, Open Letter, 2020.
J. Riss, J. Munic and B. Harlin (2020). Open Letter. We, the undersigned civil society organizations, write to you to request that the EU Commission fully supports the EU Parliament's call for a global moratorium on the release of Gene Drive Organisms (GDOs). This is in view of ...
Soon we’ll be able to engineer the wild, can the policies keep up with the science?
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Policy, RegulationM. Montague and A. Kobokovich, The Hill, 2020.
Humans have been able to genetically alter the world around them for thousands of years. With the domestication of dogs at least 14,000 years ago, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been a constant feature of human society; only recently have we gained the ability to ...
Species Extinction & the Case for a Global Moratorium on Gene Drives
Tags: Ethics, Gene drive synthetic, Policy, Regulation, Risk and safetyM. Imken, ARC, 2020.
One million species are currently threatened with extinction, and humanity faces the challenge of stopping the sixth mass extinction in the history of our planet. Yet a new technology called Gene Drive enables human beings to reprogram wild species by genetic engineering and to ...
Gene Drive: Can this be the Future of Agricultural Pest Management?
Tags: Agriculture, Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrol, PolicyP. Mondal, U. Mohapatra and M. Ganguly, International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 9. 2020.
A world free of hunger may be possible when the agricultural production exceeds the global demand for the food. In the era of increasing population, the need for increased food production can be attainable by managing the destructive pests of the agricultural and horticultural ...
Jonathan Latham on Gene Drives and the Gates Foundation
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Risk assessment, Stakeholder engagementJames Corbett, The Corbett Report, 2020.
Jonathan Latham of Independent Science News joins us to discuss his 2017 article, “Gates Foundation Hired PR Firm to Manipulate UN Over Gene Drives.” We talk about gene drives, the dangers inherent in this technology, how the UN is involved, and why the Gates Foundation and ...
Genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in Florida and Texas beginning this summer – silver bullet or jumping the gun?
Tags: Genetic biocontrol, North America, Oxitec, Policy, Regulation, Risk and safety, Sterile insect technique (SIT)B. Allan, C. Stone, H. Tuten, J. Kuzma and N. Kofler, The Conversation, 2020.
On May 1, 2020, the company Oxitec received an experimental use permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to release millions of GM mosquitoes (labeled by Oxitec as OX5034) every week over the next two years in Florida and Texas. Females of this mosquito species, Aedes ...
Engineered Gene Drives for Pest Management
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrolG. Miglani, Biotechnology for Plant Disease Diagnosis and Management, 2020.
Genes in sexually reproducing organisms normally have, on average, a 50% chance of being inherited, but some genes have a higher chance of being inherited. These genes can increase in relative frequency in a population even if they reduce the odds that each organism will ...
