This article is written by Stuart Brand – Founder of Global Overview magazine, co-founder of the Global Electronic Link Virtual Community, co-founder of the Today Forever Foundation, and author of The Laws of the Earth.
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A new biotechnology called Gene Drive will profoundly alter the relationship between humans and wild species. Using this technique, we can force a "drive" on any gene (or genome) of all individuals of a species.
The properties of the genes that are driven have no effect on the health of the organism. If the technology can mutate a species's reproductive genes, it could also make the species go extinct. This technique is based on forced homozygosity. If the gene that influences a trait is homozygous (both chromosomes have this gene), and the parents of the gene are homozygotes, then the gene that affects that trait will be pure in all offspring. Artificial selection of desired traits through homozygotes is exactly what breeders do.
Now a shortcut has emerged.
In fact, in the case of parental hybridization, genes that drive genes do not exhibit regular homozygousity. If one parent is gene-driven homozygous, all of their offspring will be gene-drive homozygous and will exhibit gene-drive characteristics.
However, this only applies to species that reproduce sexually, bacteria do not belong to this category, and only in rapidly reproducing species can spread rapidly, and humans do not belong to this category.
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In 2003, Austin Burt, an evolutionary geneticist at Imperial College London, first proposed that this mechanism could be used for some purpose. This mechanism works by cutting DNA adjacent chromosomes "through the homing nucleic acid endonuclease gene", providing a sample for DNA repair and thus replicating itself. In the words of Richard Dawkins, it's a very selfish gene.
Richard Dawkins
Heterozygous genes become homozygote genes, and after a few generations, this gene will exist in all individuals. This phenomenon is very common in nature.
In the early years, there were major breakthroughs in gene editing technology: CRISPR/Cas9 technology transformed gene drives from an interesting concept into a powerful tool. Suddenly, gene editing became simple, inexpensive, fast, and precise. This is a major innovation in biotechnology.
In 2014, Harvard geneticists George Church and Kevin Eswirt published three papers on the potential of gene-driven technology spawned by CRISPR technology and the public regulation approach needed to ensure its rational use. They also called for research into the "undo" function. Ideally, if there is a need, when a gene drive has an early effect, by reversing the gene drive, we can undo the effect before it is widely disseminated.
The benefits of gene-driven technology are numerous, with vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever being overcome by eliminating (or genetically adjusting) mosquitoes that carry them, and by injecting herbicide-resistant genes into crop seeds to protect crops.
Gene-driven technology can also address the big threat to wildlife conservation: native species on marine islands are no longer threatened by alien invaders rats, ants, etc. With gene-driven technology, invasive species can be wiped out (driven to local extinction) and native species will be permanently protected.
Developments in this area will be very rapid. A team of researchers at Harvard University has demonstrated that gene drives can be achieved in yeast. A team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego, unexpectedly discovered that gene drives can be achieved in fruit flies.
The most important finding was that Anthony James of the University of California, Erwin, and colleagues found that with gene-driven technology, we could make malaria-carrying mosquitoes no longer carry the disease.
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Esvelt is conducting a similar study of white-footed rats, a wild source of Lyme disease in humans, and if white-footed rats can be cured, the disease will also be cured.
Permanently altering the genes of wild species is a serious matter, involving ecological issues, ethical issues, and technical details that need to be fully verified, which should be treated with caution.
Humans have previously made similar decisions about the Guinea worm, a very dangerous parasite that has infected 2.5 million people, mostly in Africa. In 1980, disease control experts began to try to exterminate the worm. The first approach they came up with was to improve water resources. This goal of exterminating a species through human intervention is about to be achieved.
One of the strongest proponents of the extermination of the Guinea worm is The 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, who has publicly declared, "I hope the last Guinea worm will die before I die." ”
Gene drive is not a new technology, but a new stage of technology that represents a new height of responsibility.
Juan Henriques
"The Fork in the Road of Life"
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