A roadmap for gene drives: using institutional analysis and development to frame research needs and governance in a systems context

Abstract

The deployment of gene drives is emerging as an alternative for protecting endangered species, controlling agricultural pests, and reducing vector-borne diseases. This paper reports on a workshop held in February 2016 to explore the complex intersection of political, economic, ethical, and ecological risk issues associated with gene drives. Workshop participants were encouraged to use systems thinking and mapping to describe the connections among social, policy, economic, and ecological variables as they intersect within governance systems. In this paper, we analyze the workshop transcripts and maps using the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to categorize variables associated with gene drive governance and account for the complexities of socio-ecological systems. We discuss how the IAD framework can be used in the future to test hypotheses about how features of governance systems might lead to certain outcomes and inform the design of research programs, public engagement, and anticipatory governance of gene drives. ARTICLE HISTORY

Wicked evolution: Can we address the sociobiological dilemma of pesticide resistance?

“…In another example, pink bollworm resistance to Bt cotton in the southwest United States has been effectively delayed through voluntary cooperative initiatives and cost-sharing between regional grower associations and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (35). In terms of management tools, policy process frameworks, such as institutional analysis and development, can inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of common pool resource governance systems (44,45). Behavioral tools, such as social marketing, to engender norms for resistance management have also shown recent promise (46), but further research is needed.…”

Limits of Knowledge and Tipping Points in the Risk Assessment of Gene Drive Organisms

“…There is some proof of principle that gene drive can be established in yeast (Di Carlo et al 2015), mosquitoes (Gantz and Bier 2015;Hammond et al 2015;Kyrou et al 2018), flies (Champer et al 2017;KaramiNejadRanjbar et al 2018;Buchman et al 2018) and mice (Grunwald et al 2018). Each of these outcomes will require a case by case risk assessment in regard to its technical characteristics, the target species and the receiving environment (Akbari et al 2014;Kuzma et al 2017;Noble et al 2017;Oye et al 2014).…”

Rodent gene drives for conservation: opportunities and data needs

“…While gene drive organisms will indeed be released at the local scale and should thus be governed accordingly, global governing bodies are also an important scale to set broader norms around their governance [93]. Decisions about how to regulate gene drives at the global scale [94], how to consider field trials [96], and how to meaningfully operate with free, prior and informed consent [97] are all in progress, and are all important for the broader governance of gene drive technologies.…”