We urge you to support ongoing and new gene drive research, building on cautious and responsible practices and broad stakeholder dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The potential for gene drive technology is very significant. It is a novel tool which may enable interventions that are durable, cost-effective, and highly efficacious, complementing existing efforts to improve human health and environmental sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We urge you to resist current advocacy efforts demanding a ban on gene drive research or on the future use of gene drive-based products. Imposing a moratorium on such promising life-saving and life-improving innovations so early in their development would be unwarranted, damaging and irresponsible. Blanket bans discourage research and prevent regulators, policy-makers and other stakeholders from having an informed conversation about the use of new technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One potential application of gene drive is to reduce the burden of vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue and the Zika virus, which account for more than 17% of all infectious diseases, and cause more than 1 million deaths annually. The cost of such disease is tremendous: malaria alone is estimated to cost African countries USD $12 billion a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other potential applications, such as for the control of invasive alien species for conservation purposes, are also being investigated. The total loss to the world economy as a result of invasive non-native species has been estimated at 5% of global annual production. Invasive species are the leading cause of island extinctions, and the second-leading cause of extinctions on continental mainlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Current research on gene drive is at an early stage, and so definitive decisions about gene drive-based products is premature at best. Based on current progress, products ready for field testing are 5 years out, possibly longer. This gives scientists and stakeholders, particularly those from countries where gene drives might one day be employed, time to consider the important questions of regulation, risk assessment, ethics, and engagement, and to prepare for assessing an actual application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are regulatory systems set up to rigorously assess new classes of medicines, new vaccines, new pesticides, and applications of living modified organisms, for risks and benefits on a case-by-case basis. A moratorium on the use of gene drive violates the case by case approach of these systems and risks closing the door on critical new tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We need research on gene drives that is careful, incremental, and independently vetted. There are already efforts underway to define frameworks for responsible research and use. Both the US National Academies of Sciences (NAS)<\/a> and the UK House of Lords<\/a> have recently published reports noting the great potential of gene drive research while also laying out principles for a safe and constructive path forward. The African Union has also mandated New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) to seek expert views on emerging technologies, such as gene drive. These open consultative approaches are the best way forward and we urge Parties to the Convention to participate in future dialogues as a way to help build consensus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We recognize that gene drive applications may work in some areas or for some applications, and not for others. We need the knowledge and understanding acquired through research and development to enable national authorities to engage in detailed case-by-case assessments of each application of gene drive technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We hope that you will express support in the upcoming MOP8 and COP13 for further research in this field and not make a foregone conclusion for or against this possible tool before its potential and risks can be appropriately evaluated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Signed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prof. Austin Burt, Pf Andrea Crisanti Prof. Abdallah Daar Dr. Fred Aboagye-Antwi Prof. Traor\u00e9 S\u00e9kou F. Dr Charles Mbogo Dr. Louis G. Mukwaya Prof. Paulo Paes de Andrade Prof Halidou Tinto, PharmD, PhD Dr. Athanase Badolo Prof. Dyann Wirth, Ph.D. Dr. Jonathan Kayondo Dr. Coulibaly Mamadou B. Dr. Stephen Higgs Dr. George K. Christophides Prof. James P. Collins Nora Besansky Prof. Jim Lavery, Ph.D. Prof. Anthony A. James Dr. Jo Lines Prof. Jake Tu Prof. Azra Ghani Prof. John Mumford Zach N. Adelman Dr. Barry Stoddard Prof. Roberta Spaccapelo Prof. Raymond J. Monnat, Jr. Dr. John Marshall Prof. Julian Kinderlerer Prof. David Threadgill, PhD Andrew Cox Prof. Kevin M. Esvelt Ryan Phelan Prof. Bernie Tershy Dr. Maharaj Krishan Bhan David Hartwell Prof. Laurie Zoloth, PhD. Dr. Paulina Tindana Dr. Thomas Maina Kariuki Dr. Karen Poiani Prof. Yeya Tiemoko Tour\u00e9 Dr. Daniel Masiga Dr. Ouedraogo Sylvin Dr. Fredros Okumu, PhD Dr Jane Kengeya-Kayondo Dr. Pontiano Kaleebu Prof. Jerome Amir Singh Prof. Margareth Capurro Prof. John Godwin, PhD Dr Dabire K Roch Prof. Kevin Marsh Dr Diabate Abdoulaye Prof. Peter Agre, M.D. Prof. Ethan Bier Dr. Claudia Emerson Dr. Andrew M. Scharenberg M.D. Dr. Allan Ronald Prof. Steven Russell Dr. Nicole L. Achee, PhD. Prof. Paul Freemont Prof. Charles Godfray Prof. Omar S. Akbari, Ph.D. Greta Immobile Molaro Dr. Nikolai Windbichler Dr. Philippos A. Papathanos Dr. David O\u2019Brochta Prof. Bruce A. Hay Prof. Francesco Frati Dr. Jeremy Herren, PhD Donald Croll Stewart Brand Dr. Douglas W. Miano Sir Brian Greenwood Prof Luke Alphey, PhD Antoinette Piaggio, PhD Dr. Evelyn Gitau, PhD Prof. Frederic Tripet Mark Q. Benedict Elizabeth Heitman, PhD Professor Steve Lindsay To the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety: We urge you to support ongoing and new gene drive research, building on cautious and responsible practices and broad stakeholder dialogue. The potential for gene drive technology is very significant. It is a novel tool which may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","featured_image_focal_point":[],"_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"profile_tax":[],"class_list":["post-2033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Professor of Evolutionary Genetics
Imperial College London
Principal Investigator, Target Malaria<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor of Molecular Parasitology
Imperial College London<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor of Clinical Public Health and Global Health
Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Professor of Surgery
University of Toronto<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lecturer in Medical Entomology and Parasitology
Department of Animal Biology and Conservation Science, School of Biological Sciences
College of Basic and Applied Sciences
University of Ghana<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Director of MRTC Entomology
FAPH \u2013 University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Mali<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chief Research Scientist
KEMRI- Wellcome Trust
President of the Pan African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former Director of Research &
Former Asst.Director, Uganda National Health Research Organization (UVRI)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor
Department of Genetics
Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Directeur de Recherche
Professeur de Parasitologie Associ\u00e9 \u00e0 l\u2019Univ de Bobo-Dioulasso
Directeur R\u00e9gionale de l\u2019IRSS du Centre-Ouest
Chevalier de l\u2019Ordre des Plames Acad\u00e9miques<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Associate Professor of Medical Entomology
Department of Animal Biology and Ecology
Universit\u00e9 Ouagadougo \u2013 Pr Joseph Ki-Zerbo
Burkina Faso<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Richard Pearson Strong Professor and
Chair, Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ag. Head Entomology Department
Uganda Virus Research Institute
Principal Investigator, Target Malaria Uganda<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vector Biologist, Malaria Research & Training Center (MRTC)
University of Sciences, Techniques & Technologies of Bamako, Mali
Principal Investigator Target Malaria Mali<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peine Professor of Biosecurity,
University Distinguished Professor, Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor of Infectious Diseases and Immunity
Imperial College London<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ullman Professor
Arizona State University\/Tempe<\/p>\n\n\n\n
O\u2019Hara Professor of Biological Sciences
University of Notre Dame<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hilton Chair in Global Health Ethics
Professor, Hubert Department of Global Health
Rollins School of Public Health
Emory University<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Irvine
California<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reader of Malaria Control and Vector Biology
London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor
Dept. of Biochemistry
Virginia Tech<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chair in Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health
Imperial College London<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor of Natural Resource Management
Centre for Environmental Policy
Imperial College London<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Associate Professor
Department of Entomology
Texas A&M University<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Member
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prof. of Microbiology
Department of Experimental Medicine
University of Perugia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor of Pathology\/Genome Sciences
University of Washington<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Assistant Professor in Residence
School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Immediate past President, European Group on Ethics
Emeritus Professor of IP Law, IP Law & Policy Research Unit, University of Cape Town
Former Professor of biotechnology & society, TU Delft<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Distinguished Professor
Director of the Texas A&M Institute of Genome Sciences and Society
Texas A&M University<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CEO
Invasive Species Council
Australia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MIT Media Lab
Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Executive Director and Co-founder
Revive & Restore<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
UC Santa Cruz<\/p>\n\n\n\n
National Science Professor
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vice chair
National Audubon<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President, Faculty Senate Northwestern University
A McCormick Professor, 2009
Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Religious Studies
Program in Jewish Studies
Program in Bioethics and Medical Humanities
Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bioethicist
Senior Research Fellow, Navrongo Health Research Centre, Ghana<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Director
Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa
Fellow, African Academy of Sciences (AAS)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
CEO
Island Conservation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Medical entomologist
Facult\u00e9 de M\u00e9decine et d\u2019odontostomatologie
Bamako, Mali<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior Scientist and Head of the Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics & Biostatistics Unit, ICIPE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Directeur de l\u2019Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Sante (IRSS), Burkina Faso
Directeur de Recherche
Chevalier de l\u2019Ordre des Palmes Academiques<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Director of Science
Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regional Coordinator, East & Southern Africa
Africa Research Excellence Fund
C\/o Medical Research Council Unit on AIDS
Uganda Virus Research Institute<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Acting Director, Uganda Virus Research Institute
Director, Medical Research Council \u2013 UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Director
Ethical, Legal, Social, Cultural Issues (ELSCI) Programme on Synthetic Biology Head of Ethics and Law, CAPRISA University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
South Africa<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Associate Professor
Department of Parasitology
University of Sao Paulo
Brazil<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor of Biological Sciences,
North Carolina State University<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Directeur Regionale de l\u2019Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Sante (IRSS)
Directeur de Recherche
Chevalier de l\u2019Ordre des Palmes Academiques<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor of Tropical Medicine
University of Oxford
Senior Advisor, African Academy of Sciences<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chef de Bureau liaison recherche d\u00e9veloppement de la Direction R\u00e9gionale de l\u2019Ouest de l\u2019IRSS, Burkina Faso
Maitre de Recherche
Chevalier de l\u2019Ordre des Palmes Acad\u00e9miques
Principal Investigator, Target Malaria Burkina Faso<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bloomberg Distinguished Professor and Director
Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor, University of California, San Diego
Principle Investigator, Tata Institute for Active Genetics and Society<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Director, Institute on Ethics & Policy for Innovation
McMaster University<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor of Pediatrics
Adjunct Professor of Immunology
Co-director, Program in Cell and Gene Therapy
University of Washington School of Medicine
Seattle Children\u2019s Research Institute<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Distinguished Emeritus Professor
University of Manitoba<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Department of Genetics
University of Cambridge<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Principal Investigator
Spatial Repellents for Control of Vector-borne Disease<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Head of the Section of Structural Biology Department of Medicine
Imperial College London<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hope Professor of Entomology, Department of Zoology
Oxford University
Project partner, Target Malaria<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Institute for Integrative Genome Biology
Center for Disease Vector Research
Department of Entomology
University of California, Riverside (UCR)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chief Executive Officer
Polo d\u2019Innovazione Genomica, Genetica e Biologia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Research Fellow
Imperial College London<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Section of Genomics and Genetics,
Department of Experimental Medicine
University of Perugia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor
University of Maryland College Park<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor
Division of Biology and Biological Engineering
California Institute of Technology<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rector
University of Sienna, Italy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Visiting Scientist
Emerging Infectious Disease Lab,
ICIPE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
UC Santa Cruz<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Co-founder
Revive & Restore<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior Lecturer
Department of Plant Science and Crop Protection
University of Nairobi<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor of Clinical Tropical Medicine
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pirbright Institute<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Molecular Ecologist<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Programme Manager,
Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa
Grand Challenges Africa<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor in Medical and Molecular Entomology
Director Centre for Applied Entomology and Parasitology
Keele University<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Research Biologist
Atlanta, Georgia USA<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Program on Ethics in Science and Medicine
UT Southwestern Medical Center<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chair in Public Health Entomology
Durham University, UK<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"