The principles driving gene drives for conservation
Hartley, S; Taitingfong, R; Fidelman, P
Date: 4 May 2022
Article
Journal
Environmental Science and Policy
Publisher
Elsevier
Publisher DOI
Abstract
Gene drive technology is an emerging biotechnology with the potential to address some of the
most intractable global biodiversity conservation issues. Scientists are exploring potential gene
drive applications for managing invasive species and building resilience in keystone species
threatened by climate change. The possibility to ...
Gene drive technology is an emerging biotechnology with the potential to address some of the
most intractable global biodiversity conservation issues. Scientists are exploring potential gene
drive applications for managing invasive species and building resilience in keystone species
threatened by climate change. The possibility to use gene drive for these conservation purposes
has triggered significant interest in how to govern its development and eventual applications. This
includes a plethora of documents prescribing governance principles, which can be a sensible
response to the governance gap created by emerging technologies and help shore up legitimacy.
We conducted qualitative documentary analysis to examine the range and substance of principles
emerging in the governance of conservation gene drive. Such analysis aimed to better understand
the aspirations guiding these applications and how scientists and other experts imagine their
responsibility in this field. We found a collection of recommendations and prescriptions that could
be organised into a set of seven emerging principles intended to shape the governance of gene
drive in conservation: broad and empowered engagement; public acceptance; decision-making
informed by broad ranging considerations, state and international collaboration; ethical
frameworks; diverse expertise; and responsible self-regulation by developers. We lay bare these
emergent principles, analyzing the way in which they are valued, prioritized, and their strengths
and weaknesses. By identifying these prescriptive principles, stakeholders can further interrogate
their merits and shortcomings and identify more concrete ways that governance frameworks might
embody them.
Management
Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)