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Mosquitos are beating gene editing with rapid evolution
Gene editing and gene drives have the potential to be a massive scientific breakthrough, letting scientists target and eliminate diseases by modifying genes and disseminating them throughout a population. But it's also a technique that's not ready for prime time: There's a lot of work to be done to quiet critics and ensure that releasing gene-edited organisms into the wild will have the desired effect.
Gene-edited organisms aren't ready for the real world
Gene editing holds the promise of eliminating diseases and perfecting humanity, but is it truly ready for real life? Not by a long shot, if you ask the National Academy of Sciences. It just issued a report warning that organisms modified with gene drives (that is, genetic additions meant to propagate through reproduction) "are not ready" to be released in the wild. We don't understand enough about how they work, the report says, whether it's their inner workings, their ethical questions or their impact on the environment.
