Keywords: opinion

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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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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Extreme GM “extinction technology” of gene drives presented as “natural”

GM 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 – ...
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Environment Agency Austria,  EPA Network,  2021.
Gene drive applications are likely to entail considerable ethical and ecological implications. Apart from societal issues, they pose challenges for environmental risk assessment (ERA), monitoring and risk management: 1)GDOs differ fundamentally from classical GMOs. Notably, GDOs ...
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New mosquito control tools are critical

L. 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 ...
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Why the EU should back research into gene drive – even if Europe never uses it

R. 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 ...
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Fighting mosquitoes with mosquitoes

W. Feng,  The Daily Targum,  2021.
When you think about the animal that has killed the greatest number of humans in the world, you generally tend to think of large predators. Is it perhaps the great white shark or maybe the cute but deadly hippopotamus? While these animals are certainly deadly, the number of ...
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Experts’ moral views on gene drive technologies: a qualitative interview study

N. de Graeff, K. R. Jongsma and A. L. Bredenoord,  BMC Medical Ethics,  22:25. 2021.
Gene drive technologies (GDTs) promote the rapid spread of a particular genetic element within a population of non-human organisms. Potential applications of GDTs include the control of insect vectors, invasive species and agricultural pests. Whether, and if so, under what ...
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Hybrid mosquitoes? Evidence from rural Tanzania on how local communities conceptualize and respond to modified mosquitoes as a tool for malaria control

M. F. Finda, F. O. Okumu, E. Minja, R. Njalambaha, W. Mponzi, B. B. Tarimo, P. Chaki, J. Lezaun, A. H. Kelly and N. Christofides,  Malaria Journal,  20:134. 2021.
Different forms of mosquito modifications are being considered as potential high-impact and low-cost tools for future malaria control in Africa. Although still under evaluation, the eventual success of these technologies will require high-level public acceptance. Understanding ...
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The science & ethics of gene drive technology from a conservation & development perspective

Renew Europe,  Renew Europe,  2021.
This hearing intends to examine gene-drive technology and its possible impacts, including unintended ones and reveal the complexity of an unknown technology with inherent uncertainties. Scientists from different backgrounds in the field of gene-drive research will present most ...
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How Brussels can help or hinder the fight against malaria

F. Okumu,  EURACTIV,  2021.
In the wake of the pandemic, the world has much for which to thank Europe. Not only did European science lead the field in developing the first approved vaccine against COVID-19, but the EU’s long history of rigorous regulatory approval has also allowed for public confidence in ...
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Jonathan Latham on Gene Drives and the Gates Foundation

James 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 ...
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Just Say No to Agricultural Gene Drives

Bassey-Orovwuje, M.,  Project Syndicate,  2018.
By forcing laboratory-made genes on an entire population or species, cutting-edge gene-drive technologies have the power to transform entire ecosystems in one fell swoop. But where leading industrial agriculture firms see dollar signs, farmers in the regions where gene drives ...
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