Agricultural pest control with CRISPR-based gene drive: time for public debate

TLDR: Gene drive technology to control disease vectors or pests has great potential for addressing humanitarian and public health problems, however, its application for pest control in agriculture raises important environmental, social and ethical issues.

Abstract: Gene drive based on the CRISPR/Cas‐9 gene editing system is a powerful technology that promotes the inheritance of the gene drive tool itself via sexual reproduction and can therefore spread quickly through a population. It holds great potential for public health and humanitarian purposes, such as reducing the burden of vector‐borne diseases like malaria. Here, we discuss another potential application of CRISPR‐based gene drive, namely the control of pest species to increase crop production. We argue that gene drive‐based pest control strategies should receive more attention from policymakers and the public given their enormous potential impact on the environment, their easy accessibility, and the current dearth of regulations. ### The CRISPR‐based gene drive technology CRISPR‐based gene drive, named here gene drive for short, allows the rapid spread of a DNA cassette into a target species. The cassette contains three elements: a gene encoding the bacterial Cas‐9 protein, a gene coding a guide RNA that targets a particular site in the genome and flanking sequences which allow the cassette to insert at a given target site [1], [2], [3]. This construct can copy and paste itself into a designed position within a genome, thereby propagating through a population. A normal allele has a 50% chance of being inherited by each offspring, but a gene drive cassette has more than 90% chance of being transmitted to the next generation owing to its ability to copy itself throughout the genome [1], [2], [3]. Gene drive can bypass the vagaries of evolution, by manipulating both heredity and mutations: it enhances its transmission to the next generation, and mutations happen exactly where the gene drive has been designed to cut, producing the desired DNA sequence. In theory, the release of just a few individuals within a population could lead …