Opportunities for modern genetic technologies to maintain and enhance Aotearoa New Zealand’s bioheritage

Abstract

In the past few years genetic technologies springing from advances in DNA sequencing (so-called high-throughput sequencing), and/or from CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, have been proposed as being useful in bioheritage research. The potential scope for the use of these genetic technologies in bioheritage is vast, including enabling the recovery of threatened species, engineering proxies of extinct species and genetically controlling pests. While these technologies are often complex, they provide new opportunities that may help support New Zealand's beleaguered flora and fauna, and thus warrant scientific examination. Here we discuss these genetic technologies, focussing on scientific benefits and risks of each. We also acknowledge the social, cultural, ethical and regulatory constraints on their use, with emphasis on the importance of partnership with tangata whenua to determine when, whether or how these technologies should be used in enhancing New Zealand's bioheritage. We hope this will provide source material to support future decision making around the use of new genetic technologies in bioheritage.

Gene drive and RNAi technologies: a bio-cultural review of next-generation tools for pest wasp management in New Zealand

“…Protecting taonga species is recognised in Aotearoa New Zealand; however, genomic sequencing is of interest globally, raising countless ethical concerns. For example, native bird specimens also exist internationally with no regulation or requirement to engage with tangata whenua (Inwood et al 2020). Reviewing conservation policy in Aotearoa New Zealand will also present opportunities to enhance recognition for Māori concerns, particularly biodiversity loss, which currently lacks support for iwi and hapū to manage land as kaitiaki (Ruru et al 2017).…”

“…Complementing this research are tangata whenua views gathered from three parallel mixed-method qualitative studies that aim to gauge perspectives on these issues. While acknowledging these studies are reported in detail elsewhere (Mercier et al 2019;Palmer 2019;King-Hunt 2019), including research on gene drive development and gene silencing (Inwood et al 2020;McLaughlin G and Dearden 2019), it is our aim here to weave qualitative interview data with an assessment of RNAi and gene drive technologies to provide an innovative review that links the biological sciences and the social, mātauranga and tikanga Māori.…”

Adequacy and sufficiency evaluation of existing EFSA guidelines for the molecular characterisation, environmental risk assessment and post‐market environmental monitoring of genetically modified insects containing engineered gene drives

“…These developments suggest that a practical application of engineered gene drive systems for disease vector/pest control could be more readily achievable than previously believed in insects (Esvelt et al, 2014;. Recently, engineered gene drives have also been proposed as a technology to complement current efforts to enhance biodiversity conservation, for instance by modifying genes to increase the ability of organisms to resist climate change impacts (Goldman, 2016;NASEM, 2016;Esvelt and Gemmell, 2017;Simon et al, 2018;Redford et al, 2019;Rode et al, 2019;Inwood et al, 2020;Sandler, 2020). To date, no registration application for the deliberate release of gene drive modified insects (GDMIs) has been submitted for regulatory approval in any jurisdiction globally, but the technology could in principle be ready for use in mosquitoes in the near future (Scudellari, 2019).…”

“…mice, rats, other mammals, cane toads, some invasive plant species) is not new (e.g. Curtis, 1968;Esvelt et al, 2014;Ledford, 2015;Webber et al, 2015;Dearden et al, 2017;Harvey-Samuel et al, 2017;Raban and Akbari, 2017;Min et al, 2018;Scott et al, 2018;Lester and Beggs, 2019;Rode et al, 2019;Inwood et al, 2020;Lester et al, 2020;Li et al, 2020b;Serr et al, 2020;Teem et al, 2020). However, the classical genetic approaches attempted have until recently either not been sufficiently flexible to construct efficient gene drive systems, or have proven difficult to engineer (Rasgon and Gould, 2005;Champer et al, 2016;NASEM, 2016;James et al, 2018;Min et al, 2018).…”

Current applications and future promise of genetic/genomic data for conservation in an Aotearoa New Zealand context

“…In this review, we-a crossinstitutional team of predominantly early-career researchers using genetic/genomic tools for conservation applications-provide an overview of existing genetic/genomic methodologies, and the current and aspirational applications of such data for conservation. Many of these technologies may have been previously considered with regard to Aotearoa New Zealand's bioheritage (Inwood et al, 2020), but here we focus on those aspects of greatest relevance to Te Mana o te Taiao and a conservation management context. We present a table of attributes for existing genetic/genomic tools to assist conservation practitioners in identifying appropriate tools to inform conservation management that can be further discussed with conservation genetic/genomic researchers.…”