Gene Drive: 21^st Century Genetic Control of Agricultural and Public Health Pests

Dr. Andrew Roberts, Deputy Executive Director, delivered the presentation Environmental Risk Assessment of Gene Drive Insects at the Section Symposium: Gene Drive: 21st Century Genetic Control of Agricultural and Public Health Pests, which took place during the 2018 Entomology Society of America Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada.

More detailed information about the session is available on the Entomological Society of America website

Abstract & Presentation

Environmental Risk Assessment of Gene Drive Insects
Andrew F. Roberts, Agriculture & Food Systems Institute

The potential to use gene drive mechanisms to address intractable public health problems caused by vector-borne diseases has been of interest to scientists for decades, but recent advances in molecular biology have brought this idea closer to feasibility and consequently into the public consciousness. To begin discussions in Africa that will facilitate the consideration of potential future use of gene drive technologies to control malaria, the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) organized a series of regional consultations taking place in 2016-2018. Drawing from his experience in facilitating problem formulation exercises at these consultations, as well as other sources, I will share some of my own conclusions about the utility (and the necessity) of applying an organized scoping process like problem formulation to better inform the risk assessment process, especially as it relates to new technologies or new uses of technology. I will also review commonly identified assessment endpoints that can provide guidance to future risk assessments for gene drive mosquitoes. These include potential alterations to vectorial capacity that might impact human or animal health, the potential for aquatic larvae to influence water quality, and the potential for harm resulting from altered ecosystem interactions.

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