CRISPR machines that can wipe out entire species

And CRISPR is being turned against some of the biggest ecological problems in the world by combining it with a “gene drive,” a powerful genetic engineering tool used to spread genes through an entire population. Walking over a footbridge in the Emerald Necklace, a historic stretch of parks and waterways that curl through Boston, Kevin Esvelt stared into the serene, still water and noticed a turtle, sparking a groundbreaking idea: combining CRISPR with the concept of a gene drive would create an unimaginably powerful genetic engineering tool. In September 2018, a research team at Imperial College, London, led by Andrea Crisanti and featuring pioneer Austin Burt, revealed it had generated a CRISPR gene drive that caused a total population collapse in lab-bred Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes.

Source: www.cnet.com