As a global community, we are facing life-threatening challenges that undermine our future, from catastrophic loss of biodiversity to acute public health threats.
Malaria cases are on the rise again after decades of progress, and fragile ecosystems are undergoing intensifying rates of extinctions. These challenges require new and complementary tools if we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the Aichi Targets[i].
As the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meets for the 14th Conference of the Parties (COP14) in Egypt in November, decision-makers from countries around the world will have an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of enabling research to support responsible innovation and evidence-based decision-making.
Closing the door on research by creating arbitrary barriers, high uncertainty, and open-ended delays will significantly limit our ability to provide answers to the questions policy-makers, regulators and the public are asking. The moratorium suggested at CBD on field releases would prevent the full evaluation of the potential uses of gene drive. Instead, the feasibility and modalities of any field evaluation should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Much of the progress we have made in the past century in improving the livelihoods and wellbeing of communities around the world is the result of increased knowledge acquired through scientific research. Science has not brought solutions to all our problems, but improved understanding and evidence have been key to progress. Innovations in vaccines, for example, have saved millions of lives: the 74% percent reduction in childhood deaths from measles over the past decade is a demonstration of the life-changing power of scientific research [ii].
Gene drive is a well-established field of research. First observed in the 1920s in mice and Drosophila, gene drive is a naturally occurring phenomenon that has been the subject of investigation for many years. Recent advances in gene editing tools have allowed notable progress in the two years since gene drive was first discussed at CBD, helping deliver increased knowledge and greater understanding of the possible applications of gene drive, while shedding further light on its risks, limitations, and potential.
While these advances are important, there is still much more to be achieved before any gene drive organisms could be considered for regulatory evaluation. Key institutions, such as the African Union, have called for continued work in this field, emphasising the value of the opportunity and the need for informed case-by-case assessment of this technology by national authorities [iii].
Scientists, alongside regulatory experts, funders and sponsors of the research, are working together to ensure research is carried out safely and responsibly, by building on previous experiences, using published policy and information, and putting in place monitoring and containment systems to prevent accidental releases [iv] [v]. Ongoing discussions are also taking place to determine suitable conditions for field evaluations.
Member States can enable the Convention on Biological Diversity to be a platform for knowledge and experience sharing. We should not decide against the use of a tool before potential costs and benefits can be fully evaluated. We urge governments to ensure the decisions taken at the Convention on Biological Diversity’s next meeting do not amount to a moratorium on gene drive research, but instead offer a balanced and constructive way forward for Parties to learn and monitor this field of research.
Signed [1]:
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Prof. Austin Burt Professor of Evolutionary Genetics Imperial College London, UK Principal Investigator, Target Malaria |
David Hartwell Acting Board Chair Wildlife Land Trust (Humane Society of the US) Board Vice Chair National Audubon Society USA |
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Prof. Anne Dell CBE FRS FMedSci Head Department of Life Sciences Imperial College London UK |
Tim Allard Acting Chief Executive Australian Wildlife Conservancy Australia |
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Malaria No More USA |
Dr. Karen Poiani CEO Island Conservation |
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Dr. Charles Mbogo Chief Research Scientist Kemri-Wellcome Trust Research Programme Kenya |
Yacine Diop Djibo Executive Director Speak Up Africa |
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Dr. Daniel Masiga Principal Scientist, Human and Animal Health International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology Kenya |
Dr. Fred Aboagye-Antwi Department of Animal Biology and Conservation Science School of Biological Sciences College of Basic and Applied Sciences University of Ghana Ghana |
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Angus Parker Board Chair Island Conservation |
Dr. Hirotaka Kanuka Professor and Chair Department of Tropical Medicine Jikei University School of Medicine Japan |
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Prof. Pontiano Kaleebu Director, Uganda Virus Research Institute Uganda |
Professor Sir Brian Greenwood CBE, FRS Manson Professor of Clinical Tropical Medicine, London School of Health and Tropical Medicine UK |
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Dr. Suresh Subramani Distinguished Professor Division of Biological Sciences University of California, San Diego USA |
Dr. Abraham Mnzava Senior Malaria Coordinator African Leaders Malaria Alliance |
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Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Ruth Müller Head of the Unit Medical Entomology Department of Biomedical Sciences Institute of Tropical Medicine Belgium Chief Manager Genetics and Ecology Platform PoloGGB Italy |
Dr. Laurence Slutsker, MD, MPH Director Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases Center for Malaria Control and Elimination PATH |
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Prof. Claudia Emerson, PhD Director, Institute on Ethics & Policy for Innovation, Associate Professor, Philosophy McMaster University, Canada |
Prof. Lizette L. Koekemoer Research Professor/Director Wits Research Institute for Malaria University of the Witwatersrand South Africa |
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Dr. Charles Mugoya Chairperson, National Biosafety Committee Uganda National Council for Science and Technology Uganda |
Victoria Seaver Dean President Seaver Institute USA |
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Brian B. Tarimo Ifakara Health Institute Tanzania |
Dr. Laurie Zoloth Margaret E. Burton Professor Senior Advisor to the Provost Programs in Social Ethics University of Chicago USA |
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Prof. Neil Ferguson Director, MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis Head, Dept. of Infectious Disease Epidemiology Vice-Dean (Academic Development), Faculty of Medicine Imperial College London UK |
Prof. Abdallah Daar Professor of Clinical Public Health and Global Health Dalla Lana School of Public Health Professor of Surgery University of Toronto, Canada |
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Dr. Mamadou Coulibaly University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Mali |
Prof. Steven Russell Professor of Genome Biology Department of Genetics University of Cambridge, UK |
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Prof. Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena Professor Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Malaria Research Institute USA |
Dr. Diabate Abdoulaye Chef de Bureau liaison recherche développement de la Direction Régionale de l’Ouest de l’IRSS, Burkina Faso Maitre de Recherche Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques Principal Investigator, Target Malaria Burkina Faso Burkina Faso |
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Dr. John Godwin Department of Biological Sciences North Carolina State University, USA |
Prof. Anthony A. James University of California Irvine Malaria Initiative Tata Institute for Genetics and Society USA |
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Prof. Nora J. Besansky O’Hara Professor of Biology Department of Biological Sciences & Eck Institute of Global Health University of Notre Dame, USA |
Dr. Leonard Mboera Southern African Center for Infectious Disease Surveillance Tanzania |
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Dr. Jonathan Kayondo Senior Research Officer/ Ag HoD Division of Entomology Uganda Virus Research Institute, Uganda |
Prof. Andrea Crisanti Professor of Molecular Parasitology Imperial College London UK |
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Prof. Sir Charles Godfray FRS Oxford University UK |
Prof. Luke Alphey Group Leader, Arthropod Genetics Pirbright Institute UK |
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Dr. Alekos Simoni Research Associate, Imperial College London, UK |
Prof. Tom Burkot Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine James Cook University Australia |
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Prof Raymond J. Monnat, Jr. M.D. Professor of Pathology and Genome Sciences Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering University of Washington, USA |
Dr. Omar S. Akbari Division of Biological Sciences Section of Cell and Developmental Biology University of California San Diego, USA |
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Prof. Barry Stoddard Member Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, USA |
Jerome Amir Singh Ethical, Legal, Social Issues Advisory Services on Global Health Research and Development South Africa |
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Greta Immobile Molaro Chief Executive Officer Polo d’Innovazione Genomica, Genetica e Biologia, Italy |
Prof. David Threadgill Distinguished Professor of Molecular and Cellular Medicine Texas A & M University, USA |
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Prof. George Christophides Professor of Infectious Diseases & Immunity Imperial College London, UK Principal Investigator, Transmission: Zero |
Dr. Karl Campbell South America Regional Director Island Conservation Genetic Biocontrol of Invasive Rodents Steering Committee |
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Dr. Nikolai Windbichler Lecturer, Imperial College London, UK Principal Investigator Transmission: Zero |
Prof. Beth Shapiro Professor University of California Santa Cruz, USA |
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Kevin M. Esvelt Assistant Professor Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA |
Dr. Jason A. Delborne Associate Professor Genetic Engineering and Society Center North Carolina State University, USA |
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Roberta Spaccapelo Department of Experimental Medicine University of Perugia, Italy |
John Marshall Assistant Professor University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, USA |
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Prof. Gregory Lanzaro Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology School of Veterinary Medicine University of California Davis, CA 95616 USA |
Brian Richard Lovett Department of Entomology University of Maryland, USA |
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Prof. Paul Thomas University of Adelaide, Australia |
Prof. Ethan Bier University of California, San Diego Tata Institute for Genetics and Society University of California, Irvine Malaria Initiative USA |
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Dr. S. Patrick Kachur, MD, MPH Professor of Population and Family Health Columbia University Medical Center USA |
Prof. Kevin Marsh Professor of Tropical Medicine University of Oxford UK Senior Adviser African Academy of Sciences |
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Dr. Edward Katongole-Mbidde Scientist Uganda Virus Research Institute Uganda |
Prof. Paulo Paes de Andrade Professor of Genetics Federal University of Pernambuco Brazil |
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Allan Ronald OC OM MD FRSC, Distinguished Professor Emeritus University of Manitoba Canada |
Dr. Shaibal Kumar Dasgupta Tata Institute for Genetics and Society India |
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Michael Gottlieb Associate Director of Science, Retired Foundation for the National Institutes of Health USA |
Dr. Roya E. Haghighat-Khah Research Associate Imperial College London UK |
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Dr. Paul Ndebele Senior Research Regulatory Specialist Office of Research Excellence George Washington University USA |
Prof. Michael Bonsall University of Oxford UK |
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Prof. Ingrid M. Parker Professor and Chair Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Santa Cruz USA |
Prof. Azra Ghani Chair in Infectious Disease Epidemiology Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health Imperial College London UK |
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Dr. Tony Nolan Senior Research Fellow Imperial College London UK |
Prof. Paul Lasko, FRSC Department of Biology University of McGill Canada |
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Prof. Zach N. Adelman Professor and Presidential Impact Fellow Department of Entomology Texas A&M University USA |
Dr. Philippos A Papathanos Senior Lecturer Department of Entomology Robert H Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel |
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Dr. Michael J. Smanski University of Minnesota USA |
Prof. Frédéric Tripet Director Centre for Applied Entomology and Parasitology Keele University School of Life Sciences UK |
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Dr. Jeremy K. Herren International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology Kenya |
Prof. John Mumford Professor of Natural Resource Management Centre for Environmental Policy Imperial College London UK |
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Prof. Steve Lindsay Chair in Public Health Entomology Durham University UK |
Valentino Gantz Assistant Research Scientist University of California San Diego USA |
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Dr. Chris A. Wozniak Biologist USA |
Dr. Michael R. Reddy Senior Scientist Microsoft Research USA |
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Dr. Fredros Okumu Director of Science Ifakara Health Institute Tanzania |
Prof. Traoré Sékou F. Director of the Malaria Research and Training Center/Entomology Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dentistry Mali |
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Prof. Halidou Tinto, PharmD PhD Regional Director IRSS Nanoro Head Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro Burkina Faso |
Megan Serr Research Associate Department of Biology North Carolina State University USA |
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Dr. Dimitri Blondel Postdoctoral Research Associate Department of Biology North Carolina State University USA |
Andrew Veale Senior Lecturer Department of Environment and Animal Sciences UNITEC New Zealand |
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Daniel White Research Fellow University of Western Australia Australia |
Dr. Louis G. Mukwaya Scientific Advisor Uganda Virus Research Institute Uganda |
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Prof. Nelson K. Sewankambo Professor of Medicine and Director of THRiVE Makerere University of Public Health Sciences Uganda |
Michelle Connolly Network Manager ANTI-VeC (a GCRF Network in Vector Borne Disease) MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) University of Glasgow UK |
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Prof. George Church Harvard Medical School USA |
Prof. Immo Kleinschmidt Professor of Epidemiology London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine UK |
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Prof. Robin Lovell-Badge Senior Group Leader and Head Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics Francis Crick Institute UK |
Prof. Robert M. Waterhouse Department of Ecology and Evolution Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics University of Lausanne Switzerland |
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Prof. Mariangela Bonizzoni Professor of Zoology Department of Biology and Biotechnology University of Pavia Italy |
Ben Novak Lead Scientist Revive & Restore |
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Dr Frederic Simard French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) France |
Prof. Claudio Valladares Padua Researcher and Professor Brazil |
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Dr. Sabrina Absalon Research Associate Department of Infectious Diseases Boston Children’s Hospital USA |
Alun L. Lloyd Drexel Professor and Director of Biomathematics Program Department of Mathematics North Carolina State University USA |
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Prof. Jo Lines Professor of Malaria Control and Vector Biology London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine UK |
N. Regina Rabinovich ExxonMobil Scholar in Residence Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health USA |
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Prof. Nicole Achee Research Professor Eck Institute of Global Health Department of Biological Sciences University of Notre Dame USA |
Dr. Philip Leftwich Research Associate Pirbright Institute UK |
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Pr. Roch K. Dabiré Directeur de Recherche Chercheur Entomologiste Médical Directeur Régional de l’IRSS Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques Burkina Faso |
Dr. Michael Smith Regional Ecologist Australian Wildlife Conservancy Australia |
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Dr. Chris Somerville Program Officer, Scientific Research Open Philanthropy Project USA |
Dr. Heather Youngs Program Officer, Scientific Research Open Philanthropy Project USA |
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Dr. Silas Majambere Director Mosquito Consulting Norway |
Dr. Philip Welkhoff, PhD Director Malaria Program Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation USA |
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Krijn Paaijmans Assistant Professor School of Life Sciences Arizona State University USA |
Sentelle Eubanks PM James Lab University of California, Irvine USA |
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Dr. Douglas W. Miano Department of Plant Science and Crop Protection University of Nairobi Kenya |
Prof. Mike Turner Head of Infection and Immunobiology Wellcome Trust UK |
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Dr. Elizabeth Bennett Vice President, Species Conservation Wildlife Conservation Society |
Dr. Jeantine E. Lunshof Research Scientist, Ethicist Massachusetts Institute of Technology USA |
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Dr. Sanjay Basu Pirbright Institute UK |
Paul Brindley George Washington University USA |
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Dr. Martin C. Taylor London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine UK |
Raymond St. Leger University of Maryland USA |
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Jonathan Hoekstra Vice-Chair Island Conservation Board of Directors |
Prof. Gassama Yaye Kene Plant Biotechnology Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar Vice Chair Académie Nationale des Sciences et Techniques du Sénégal Senegal |
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J. Royden Saah Coordinator Genetic Biocontrol of Invasive Rodents Partnership Island Conservation |
Dr. Athanase Badolo Associate Professor of Medical Entomology University Ouaga 1 Joseph Ki-Zerbo Burkina Faso |
[i] Bellard et al., (2016) “Alien species as a driver of recent extinctions” Biology letters vol. 12,2.
Spatz et al., (2017) “Globally threatened vertebrates on islands with invasive species”. Science Advances,
Vol. 3, no. 10
WHO (2017) World Malaria Report
WHO (2015) Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016–2030
[ii] WHO http://www.who.int/immunization/diseases/measles/global_coordination/en/index4.html
[iii] See for e.g., the African Union High Level Expert Panel report (2018) Gene Drives for Malaria Control and Elimination in Africa and the WHO Vector Control Advisory Committee (VCAG) Report of the fifth meeting of VCAG and Report of the eighth meeting of VCAG (2018)
[iv] See for example:
- NASEM (2016) “Gene Drives on the Horizon: Advancing Science, Navigating Uncertainty, and Aligning Research with Public Values”
- Benedict et al., (2018) Recommendations for Laboratory Containment and Management of Gene Drive Systems in Arthropods.
- James et al., (2018) Pathway to Deployment of Gene Drive Mosquitoes as a Potential Biocontrol Tool for Elimination of Malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa: Recommendations of a Scientific Working Group
- Akbari et al., (2015) Safeguarding Gene Drive Experiments in the Laboratory.
- Emerson et al., (2016) Principles of Gene Drive Research
[v] Reports and decisions Informing the safe and responsible management of gene drive research have been published by, among others:
- Dutch National Institution for Health and Environment (RIVM) https://www.rivm.nl/en/Documents_and_publications/Scientific/Reports/2016/februari/Gene_drives_Policy_report
- African Union decision July 2017 https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/33559-assembly_au_dec_642_-_664_xxix_e_1.pdf
- Australian Academy of Sciences https://stage.genedrivenetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/gene-drives-discussion-paper-june2017-67a.pdf
- Haut Conseil des Biotechnologies, France (2017) http://www.hautconseildesbiotechnologies.fr/fr/avis/avis-relatif-a-lutilisation-moustiques-gm-dans-cadre-lutte-antivectorielle
- Australian Office of the Gene Technology Regulator http://www.ogtr.gov.au/internet/ogtr/publishing.nsf/Content/amendment%20proposals-1
[1] Affiliation provided for identification purposes only
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