Sustainability as a Framework for Considering Gene Drive Mice for Invasive Rodent Eradication
March 4, 2019 | Sustainability as a Framework for Considering Gene Drive Mice for Invasive Rodent Eradication, by S. Kathleen Barnhill-Dilling, Megan Serr, Dimitri V. Blondel and John Godwin. Abstract: Gene drives represent a dynamic and controversial set of technologies with applications that range from mosquito control to the conservation of biological diversity on islands. Currently, gene drives are being developed in mice that may one day serve as an important tool for reducing invasive rodent pests, a key threat to island biodiversity and economies. ...
Report: Stakeholder Perspectives on Gene Drive Mice for Biodiversity Protection on Islands
Jason Delborne, February 20, 2019 | This article reviews the current state of gene-editing regulation for crops, illuminating the ways in which technology developers are repeating practices that may lead to the public and ethical failures of the first generation genetically engineered crops, and argues that the contentious socio-political history of genetic engineering will repeat itself for gene editing if these continue....
Can genetic engineering save disappearing forests?
Jason Delborne, January 18, 2019 | Forests in the US face many threats: climate change, invasive species, pests and pathogens. Could genetically engineering trees make these plants more resilient?" ...Continue reading "Can genetic engineering save disappearing forests?"
Issues: Regulating Gene-Edited Crops
This article reviews the current state of gene-editing regulation for crops, illuminating the ways in which technology developers are repeating practices that may lead to the public and ethical failures of the first generation genetically engineered crops, and argues that the contentious socio-political history of genetic engineering will repeat itself for gene editing if these continue....
GES Center Co-director Jennifer Kuzma Named AAAS Fellow
Jennifer Kuzma, Goodnight-North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation Distinguished Professor in Social Sciences and co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at NC State, elected for distinguished translational work in bridging the bench and society, advancing anticipatory governance of new technologies, and contributions to methods for oversight policy analysis....Continue reading "GES Center Co-director Jennifer Kuzma Named AAAS Fellow"
EU ruling on gene-edited plants and GMOs is more status quo than disruptive
Prior to the recent European Union ruling regarding gene-edited plants, opponents stoked fears that these new gene editing techniques were a loop-hole for big agricultural companies to release their untested, dangerous GMOs onto an unsuspecting...Continue reading "EU ruling on gene-edited plants and GMOs is more status quo than disruptive"
Space for the Social Sciences in Engineering Biology
I had the pleasure of attending the Canada SynBio 2018 Conference “Engineering Biology for Health, Food and the EnvIronment in Toronto last week. While I’ve been to many such events in the United States, this...Continue reading "Space for the Social Sciences in Engineering Biology"
Journal of Responsible Innovation publishes ‘Roadmap to Gene Drives’ special issue
The Genetic Engineering and Society Center at NC State hosted a workshop in February of 2016, supported in part by the National Science Foundation, entitled ‘A Roadmap to Gene Drives: A Deliberative Workshop to Develop...
Gene Drives and Responsible Innovation
It is not often that a new technology is at once hailed as a potential solution to pandemic disease, wildlife conservation and hunger, while also being feared as a potential military and environmental “bioweapon.” Gene drives,...
Politics “Trumps” Science in the Regulation of Genetically Engineered Crops
In recent years, the regulatory system for biotechnology products has not kept pace with newer ways of engineering organisms, such as through the use of gene editing like CRISPR-Cas9 systems. Under the Obama administration, progress had been made in clarifying U.S. biotechnology regulations. In January 2017, in the last few days of Obama’s term, several proposals were made for updating agency regulations and guidance documents. In particular, new US USDA regulations were proposed for GE crops. Fast forward ten months, and the Trump administration has pulled this proposed rule back to “start fresh” and reconsider the issue. This is no surprise, as it is not uncommon for new political administrations to recall regulatory policy for biotech. Many industry and academic scientists developing GE crops are pleased to hear about the Trump administration’s recall of USDA proposed regulations....Continue reading "Politics “Trumps” Science in the Regulation of Genetically Engineered Crops"
NAS Committee Responds to Critique of Gene Engineering Report
NC State’s Fred Gould, who led a National Academies committee that issued a 2016 report on genetically engineered crops, pens a letter in Nature Biotechnology to respond to a report critique....Continue reading "NAS Committee Responds to Critique of Gene Engineering Report"