The CRISPR machine that can wipe out entire species

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https://www.cnet.com/news/the-crispr-machines-that-can-wipe-out-entire-species/ (Newer article on the subject, not new technology)

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Charles Darwin had no idea what a gene was. If we dropped the father of evolution into 2019, the idea that humans can willfully alter the genes of an entire species would surely seem like wizardry to him.

But CRISPR gene drives -- a new, inconceivably powerful technique that forces genes to spread through a population -- have the ability to do just that. Gene drives allow us to hone the blunt edges of natural selection for our own purposes, potentially preventing the spread of disease or eradicating invasive pests.

Yet as with any science performed at the frontier of our knowledge, we are still coming to terms with how powerful CRISPR gene drives might be. Playing the game of genomes means we may, in the future, choose which species live and which die -- a near-unbelievable capability that scientists and ethicists agree presents us with unique moral, social and ethical challenges.

Humans have been interfering with genetics for millennia. We domesticated dogs, we bred gigantic chickens. But during the 20th century, we learned genes were made of DNA and we created tools that allow us to tinker with them. By the 1970s, that had opened up a new field of research.

Over the next 40 years, genetic engineering became commonplace for scientists. It hasn't been easy. Successfully inserting or deleting genes required time, high-level expertise and a big wallet. But in 2012, with the discovery of CRISPR, genetic engineering became cheaper, faster and more efficient.

Now scientists possess a robust molecular tool that can reliably alter genes in almost any organism. It was touted as a revolution in 2013 -- and it has been, enabling genetic modification of crops, potential new cancer treatments, refining antibiotics and new ways to create animal models of disease.

And CRISPR is being turned against some of the biggest ecological problems in the world by combining it with a "gene drive," a powerful genetic engineering tool used to spread genes through an entire population. Within just five years, CRISPR gene drive technology has gone from pioneering idea to impending reality.

In London, a team of researchers is trying to perfect a drive that could wipe out entire populations of the malaria-carrying Anopheles mosquito, combating a disease that according to the World Health Organization kills almost half a million people every year. Meanwhile, in Australia, a scourge of poisonous cane toads hop their way across the continent, endangering native species. Researchers hope to render their toxins inert and control their spread, giving the natural flora and fauna a chance to bounce back.

A world without malaria. A planet without invasive species.

With gene drives, we can tame evolution.

CONTINUED IN ARTICLE...
 
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This does present some ethical questions. Doth man go where God reigns?
 
and some nutter, with hate in their hearts, will splice something to kill us all. What happens when someone tries to annihilate a race they do not like. When you have nukes and see all your countrymen dying, do you go peacefully pr smite the hand that smites you.

I fear we are about to see the reason the fermi paradox exists, most intelligent species kill themselves before they escape their primitive impulses and leave their world.

Rod
 
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Originally Posted by Leo99
This does present some ethical questions. Doth man go where God reigns?



That's kind of a religion thing.

It does raise some ethical questions though. I think the answer is going to be to go ahead, man has wiped out other species accidentally, why not do it on purpose.

It's all DNA anyway.
 
Imagine.... elimination of Leafy Spurge, Canadian Thistle, or Hedge Bindweed.... or others much worse.

The $$$$ saved in lost crops would be huge.
 
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Sounds like something SPECTRE or Cobra would make.


Sure, why not.

What gives anyone the "right" to "play creator"?

"unintended consequences" ... and all that

I'm just waiting fore someone to REALLY screw up and create 'Ice-nine"
 
Originally Posted by Linctex
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Sounds like something SPECTRE or Cobra would make.


Sure, why not.

What gives anyone the "right" to "play creator"?

"unintended consequences" ... and all that

I'm just waiting fore someone to REALLY screw up and create 'Ice-nine"


Anyone who has the money can do it. Same right you have to buy pesticides and kill as many insects as you can.
 
Originally Posted by Linctex
Imagine.... elimination of Leafy Spurge, Canadian Thistle, or Hedge Bindweed.... or others much worse.

The $$$$ saved in lost crops would be huge.


Those are examples of poor soil management.

Thorny, deep rooted weeds are there as the soil is lacking, and the plants that will grow there can't afford the luxury of being nibbles on...they are deep rooted, and have thorns. After those species spend a few generations rehabilitating the soil, they are replaced by deep rooted "edible" species, like dandelion and wild lettuce, which still bring nutrients up, but also don't need the thorns, as they have reserves, and animals and bugs eating them add to manure on/in the soil.

When they're enriched the soil enough, leguminous stuff like clover and chickweeds take over....and when they have done their job, grasses (our staple crops are grasses) can take over.

If the soil condition deteriorates, then it will drop back down the ladder, naturally, until it's back to the point that grasses will grow.

Eliminating species of plants isn't any sort of answer.

And as we well know, side transfer of genetics is rampant in the plant world....roundup ready canola has created many roundup ready wild brassicas.
 
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Sounds like something SPECTRE or Cobra would make.



https://www.chemistryworld.com/news...f-crops-prompts-warnings/3009596.article

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An international team of researchers and lawyers is sounding the alarm about a US government programme that is developing genetically modified viruses that would be dispersed into the environment using insects such as sap-sucking aphids or leafhoppers. The virus-infected insects are being developed to enable gene-editing of mature crops in the field to improve and protect them. The work by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (Darpa) could be seen as an attempt to develop a new class of bioweapon for hostile or offensive purposes, and prompt other nations to pursue retaliatory research in the agricultural arena, they warn.
 
Originally Posted by double vanos
Like it or not, the earths eco system is tenderly balanced. Tipping the scale could mark the start of a terrifying journey.......


Yup
 
Originally Posted by DoubleWasp
They're breaking the first two rules of the Universe:

Rule 1: Don't ____ where you eat.

Rule 2: Don't play with forces you don't understand.

There's the problem. They think they understand everything.
 
Beware of unintended consequences. The Earth is 4.5 Billion yrs old. It is still evolving in ways unknown to us. Don't screw this up ! An anthropocentric world view glosses over ecology
 
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Originally Posted by andyd
Beware of unintended consequences. The Earth is 4.5 Billion yrs old. It is still evolving in ways unknown to us. Don't screw this up ! An anthropocentric world view glosses over ecology


Well yeah, but there was a meteor about 60 million years ago that wiped out 75% of the life on the planet so don't think it's been 4.5 billion years of continued success.
 
Before that, around 220 MYA was the Permian Extinction. That killed off more than that many species. What 's your point ?
 
Originally Posted by andyd
Before that, around 220 MYA was the Permian Extinction. That killed off more than that many species. What 's your point ?


It's not an undistributed evolution over the last 4.5 billion years. There were several resets along the way. This could just be another one. Plus in about 5 billion years, the sun will turn into a red giant so the time on earth is finite.
 
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