What's a gene drive?
Channel: Risk Bites
Date: 2015-11-30

A gene drive is a radical new way of re-engineering the genetic makeup of an entire species - including harmful insects like the mosquito. But as the technology steams head, fueled by powerful gene editing techniques coming out of synthetic biology like CRISPR Cas9, what are the risks, and how can we ensure that it is used safely and responsibly without causing harm?

#genedrive #CRISPR #risk #safety #gene 

ESSENTIAL LINKS

FAQ: Gene Drives.  The Weiss Institute (highly recommended): https://wyss.harvard.edu/faqs-gene-drives/

How gene drive technology works (video) The Wyss Institute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1L0G00nCM8

Gene Drive. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_drive

Gene drive' mosquitoes engineered to fight malaria. Nature News, November 23 2015. http://www.nature.com/news/gene-drive-mosquitoes-engineered-to-fight-malaria-1.18858 

World Economic Forum: How gene editing is changing the world: https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/11/how-gene-editing-is-changing-the-world/

On the reversibility of gene drives. The Scientist: http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/41027/title/Opinion--On-the-Irreversibility-of-Gene-Drives/

Regulating Gene Drives – Science Magazine, 8 August 2014: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/345/6197/626.full.pdf

Gene Drive – This could be the next weapon of mass destruction. Quartz (look beyond the hyperbolic headline!): http://qz.com/554337/this-could-be-the-next-weapon-of-mass-destruction/

Breakthrough DNA Editor Borne of Bacteria.  Carl Zimmer, Quanta Magazine. Feb 26 2015. https://www.quantamagazine.org/20150206-crispr-dna-editor-bacteria/ 

The CRISPR Revolution – Science Magazime: http://www.sciencemag.org/site/extra/crispr/?intcmp=HP-COLLECTION-PROMO-crispr

CRISPR: The good, the bad, and the unknown. Nature Special: http://www.nature.com/news/crispr-1.17547 

The Gene Hackers – The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/16/the-gene-hackers

Safety upgrade found for gene-editing technique – Nature News: http://www.nature.com/news/safety-upgrade-found-for-gene-editing-technique-1.18799


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks to Todd Kuiken (Synthetic Biology project - http://www.synbioproject.org/), and Emma Frow and Neekta Hamidi at Arizona State University (http://sfis.asu.edu), for feedback on the script for this video. 

Backing track: Mandolin Highway by Olive Musique.  http://www.premiumbeat.com/royalty_free_music/songs/mandolin-highway

Risk Bites videos are devised, created and produced by Andrew Maynard, in association with the Arizona State University School for the Future of Innovation in Society (http://sfis.asu.edu). They are produced under a Creative Commons License CC-BY-SA

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#CRISPR