Gene Drives: How to Genetically Modify an Ecosystem

[Almeisan]

Oh, we try that with every child anyway. But I'm sure many will see a large difference between sampling genes at random from two humans, and biochemical modifications. Especially if you go beyond single base pair mutations that are well-known.

So what is the difference? Besides trying random genes is likely to have a higher risk than deliberately picking them.

That people are going to object with 'we should not play god' or 'slippery slope', I know. But I don't think those are very good reasons to condemn a child to a genetic card with an early death or significant complications/reduced quality of life.

 

[mfb]

So what is the difference?

Depending on what you do, there might be no difference at all.

That people are going to object with 'we should not play god' or 'slippery slope', I know.

And that is a serious issue. People don't care about ~2 mSv/year of background radiation, they care about the extra 0.0001 mSv from living close to a nuclear power plant. You can collect many signatures if you suggest to ban atoms, genes, or chemicals in general (or just dihydrogen monoxide in particular). Even PGD, where no genes are changed, is disputed.

 

[Ygggdrasil]

An update on gene drive research:

Two groups have recently published papers demonstrating that gene drives work in mosquitoes. One study demonstrated gene drives in Anopheles stephensi, a malaria vector in the Indian subcontinent, and demonstrated that it could be used to spread malaria-resistance genes. The other group worked with Anopheles gambiae, a malaria vector in sub-Saharan Africa, and demonstrated a gene drive that affects female (but not male) fertility and thus could be used to reduce mosquito populations. Links to the studies and a news piece summarizing them are below.

Gantz et al. 2015. Highly efficient Cas9-mediated gene drive for population modification of the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles stephensi. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112: E6736. doi:10.1073/pnas.1521077112

Hammond et al. 2016. A CRISPR-Cas9 gene drive system targeting female reproduction in the malaria mosquito vector Anopheles gambiae. Nat. Biotech. 34: 78. doi:10.1038/nbt.3439

Summary from Nature news

It's possible that a gene drive targeting female fertility could help against the current Zika virus spread in the Americas by limiting mosquito populations. Of course, the decision to release a gene drive into the wild should not be taken lightly, and research should be done to consider any long-term unintended consequences of such action. Still, with a Zika virus vaccine potentially a decade away, gene drives seem like a solution that could be available in a few years.