Why engineering evolution is a high-stakes race between cure and chaos
Genetic engineering, specifically the use of 'gene drives' to control disease-carrying vectors like mosquitoes, presents both potential benefits and significant evolutionary risks. The article cautions that human manipulation of nature is complex and often involves unforeseen trade-offs.
A single mosquito carrying malaria parasites can infect dozens of people. A single gene in that mosquito can spread slowly through its population. Gene drives aim to bend this inheritance in our favour by ensuring that a particular genetic change passes to far more than half of the offspring, helping reduce the disease burden.
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