Dr. Landon Getz, Dalhousie University Editing Nature: Genetically Modified Mosquitoes and a Case for Slow Science Mosquito-borne diseases - malaria, dengue fever, zika, and others - are a significant burden on global health and economies. As such, a variety of interventions that target and reduce mosquito populations have been developed and used to manage disease transmission and its consequences. The advent of new genetic technologies, like CRISPR/Cas9, provide innovative solutions to mosquito control and have shown significant promise in reducing mosquito populations. However, these interventions require the release of genetically-modified mosquitoes into shared spaces and carry significant uncertainty and risk. The promise and peril of these interventions make them an excellent case study for how we do science, and how we ought to do science. Taking a "Slow Science" approach to editing nature can help ensure that it is done safely, ethically, and with the support of the communities involved.
BIO: Landon J. Getz, Vanier Scholar and Killam Laureate Landon Getz is a PhD Candidate at Dalhousie University in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. His research investigates the environmental survival mechanisms of the marine prokaryote Vibrio parahaemolyticus and how these mechanisms to can lead to virulence in human hosts. Landon is a member of the Chief Science Advisor's Youth Council and has a keen interest in science's interconnectedness with politics, policy, and ethics. As such, Landon has explored ethical and justice issues related to gene-editing in humans, as well as the social, environmental, and ethical issues associated with gene-editing in insects (primarily mosquitoes). Comments are closed.
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