Experts from 14 Nations Discuss Global Gene Drive Project Registry

“Historically, registries have been seen as improving transparency by making information about experimental biotechnologies or medical treatments publicly accessible,” said Bloss. “Although a project registry could similarly facilitate transparency in gene drive research, one of our main conclusions was that such an effort would first require careful and inclusive deliberation with potential end-users, such as scientists, government stakeholders or local communities.”

“We discussed communities’ rights to inform decisions about whether a gene drive organism is released in their environment, and many of us advocated for a registry that includes detailed information for use by local decision-makers living in areas where a gene drive organism is being considered for release,” said Riley Taitingfong, Ph.D., who was a postdoctoral fellow at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health at the time of the workshop.

“A registry could also help government regulators promote surveillance and monitoring of potential ecological and health risks,” said Cynthia Triplett, M.P.H., Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health staff researcher. Taitingfong and Triplett were co-first authors.

A gene drive is a technique that genetically engineers organisms so that a particular set of genes is passed on to future generations. For example, researchers at the UC San Diego School of Biological Sciences, including co-author Omar Akbari, Ph.D., are engineering confineable gene drives in mosquitoes. They are also developing safer non-drive technologies, for example by applying CRISPR-based technology to sterilize Drosophila suzukii, an invasive fruit fly responsible for millions of dollars in crop damage.

Participants in the two-day workshop agreed that a registry could: improve learning and collaboration among the scientific community; help anticipate potential cross-interactions between gene-drive modified organisms released in the environment; promote surveillance and monitoring; and inform local decision-making and authorization by impacted communities.

The authors recommend that, as a next step, a formal needs assessment be conducted among a more diverse group of stakeholders to further address the value and utility of a global gene-drive project registry.

Co-authors at UC San Diego include: Ramya Rajagopalan, Robyn Raban, Cynthia Schairer, and Kanya Long. Full list of co-authors and institutions available in manuscript.