[ExI] CRISPR and Gene Drives

[BillK]

On 20 November 2015 at 10:52, Anders Sandberg  wrote:
> The balance of ecosystems is one of the myths that need to die.
>
> We have known since May's paper in *1973* (
> http://www.d.umn.edu/~thrabik/may%201973.pdf ) that generic big ecosystems
> are unstable. In the ensuing debate the findings have been that real
> ecosystems are more stable than mathematical ones for complex reasons (
> http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v405/n6783/full/405228a0.html ), but in
> the end this rather leads to the view that ecosystems are *robust*. They can
> handle noise and disruptions most of the time, but they also can shift and
> adapt. But they are *not* delicately balanced.
>
>
> The recent gene drive safeguard paper was nice; just the kind of thing we
> may want to add as a debug or safety tool.
>


Are you just complaining about his choice of words?   :)

We are in the middle of one of the great historical extinction events.
Flora and fauna are disappearing rapidly.
Gene drives could well increase the present extinction rate.

When you are in the middle of an extinction event I doubt if "robust"
is the term I would use.


BillK