Gene drives and rodent control: response to Piaggio et al.
March 2017
Publication: Gene drives and rodent control: response to Piaggio
Author(s): Gemmell, N. J., and D. M. Tompkins
Piaggio et al. recently outlined the role that new synthetic biology technologies may play in addressing a myriad of issues in conservation. One area they focused on was the possibility of using gene drive technologies to control invasive rodents. Specifically, they outlined work now underway in mice that seeks to link a male-determining gene, Sry to the t-complex gene drive to produce predominantly male progeny. The idea has merit, but there are a variety of challenges to surmount that the authors did not address, likely because of paper length restrictions. We air here some of these with the goal of stimulating further thought and discussion on a topic that is emerging as an area of contention in the conservation biology domain.