Special guest Tanja Strive, CSIRO – Prospects for genetic biocontrol of vertebrate pests in Australia

December 5, 2022 | Patti Mulligan

Special guest Tanja Strive of CSIRO in Canberra, Australia, joins us to discuss “Biological control of rabbits in Australia – 70 years of landscape-scale management of a vertebrate pest." Hosted by the STS and GBIRd programs, Thursday 12/8 at 3 PM in Jordan Addition 1214 seminar room. ...

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Exploring Stakeholder Perspectives on the Development of a Gene Drive Mouse for Biodiversity Protection on Islands

Gene Drive Mice for Biodiversity Protection

June 24, 2019 | Patti Mulligan

Project Background Mice offer an ideal genetic model for exploring the possibility of developing a synthetic gene drive in mammals. As pests, they pose challenges to human health (through disease transmission), agricultural yields and storage,...

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GES Colloquium | Aditi Mankad – Social Science and Synthetic Biology: Maximising Impact

January 2, 2019 | Patti Mulligan

GES Colloquium, 3/5/18 - Aditi Mankad - Social Science and Synthetic Biology: Maximising Impact | This talk will provide an overview of Australia's investment into synbio via the Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform (SynBio FSP) and how the social science application domain plays an important and integrative role in the future development of synbio technology in Australia. ...

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Katie Barnhill-Dilling & Dalton George – Responsible Research & Innovation in Action: Tales from the Front Lines

August 21, 2018 | Patti Mulligan

11/20 Colloquium - Dr. Katie Barnhill-Dilling and Dalton George | Responsible research and innovation (RRI) is an increasingly applied normative framework for the governance of emerging technologies. However, meaningful implementation of RRI principles can be challenging, particularly with respect to upstream stakeholder and community engagement. The Safe Genes NCSU project, "Restoring Ecosystems and Biodiversity through Development of Safe and Effective Gene Drive Technologies," has been designed with RRI in mind. ...

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close-up of rat with genetic code reflected in eye

WIRED: Process of Elimination

February 21, 2018 | Patti Mulligan

A deep dive into the inception of the Genetic Biocontrol of Invasive Rodents (GBIRd) program, this article in WIRED details how Karl Campbell of Island Conservation came across GES Co-Director Fred Gould's research suggesting that the genetic engineering techniques being used to manage insect populations could also be applied to other species, like rodents. And then, what happened when CRISPR came along....

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GES Colloquium WordCloud

Gene Drives and Responsible Innovation

December 8, 2017 | Patti Mulligan

It is not often that a new technology is at once hailed as a potential solution to pandemic disease, wildlife conservation and hunger, while also being feared as a potential military and environmental “bioweapon.” Gene drives,...

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Marine iguanas of the Galápagos are vulnerable to feral cats and other invasive predators. Credit: Tui de Roy, Scientific American

Scientific American: Could Genetic Engineering Save the Galápagos?

November 7, 2017 | Patti Mulligan

Campbell first became intrigued by the possibilities of gene drive in 2011, when he sat in on a conference call between biologists at NC State University and officials of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to discuss a possible genetic approach to control a runaway mouse problem on Southeast Farallon Island, about 20 miles west of the California coast, near San Francisco. John Godwin, a North Carolina State neurobiologist who studies animal behavior, had learned of the Farallon issue while skimming the Internet in 2011. He happened to be at a university with an established infrastructure dedicated to experimenting with—and considering the ethical implications of—genetic manipulation....

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Giant petrel with young in the nest

NC State Receives DARPA Funding to Develop, Test Gene Drive System

August 4, 2017 |

For Immediate Release August 3, 2017 John Godwin  |  919.513.2936 North Carolina State University researchers have received funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop and test a system that would reduce populations of...

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Petrel Mouse

GES Co-Directors Gould and Kuzma Quoted in Audubon Story on Using Gene Drives to Save Island Birds

July 11, 2017 | Patti Mulligan

A new story in Audubon Magazine, How Genetically Modified Mice Could One Day Save Island Birds, features quotes from GES Co-Directors Dr. Fred Gould and Dr. Jennifer Kuzma. The article tells the story of how Dr. John Godwin, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, and Ph.D. student Megan Serr became part of GBIRd (Genetic Biocontrol of Invasive Rodents), a global partnership working to save island birds from extinction by using the cutting-edge (and controversial) CRISPR and gene drive technologies to eradicate invasive species of mice....

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