Page - 100 - in Critical Issues in Science, Technology and Society Studies - Conference Proceedings of the 17th STS Conference Graz 2018

increasing prevalence within a population. Gene drives have been proposed to provide effective means of genetically modifying populations or even whole species (for an introduction read [2]– [4]). Possible applications encompass: The control or even eradication of insects carrying pathogens, like malaria and dengue, or pest species such as the spotted wing drosophila or the diamondback moth. Also gene drives could be used to control invasive species, like rodents or weeds, or finally to eliminate evolved herbicide or pesticide resistances. Thereby a gene drive can be used to either suppress or transform a population or even a whole species by a new trait which is transmitted via the drive. General Concerns about Gene Drives The potential of gene drives to wipe out whole species raises some concern. An extinction should never be the set goal of an application but might still happen if the situation gets out of hand. There are three distinguishable groups of concern. First at the genetic level, where a multitude of problems await, depending on the method of gene drive applied, the target organism and the desired genetic modification. Two very general problems of faithful transgene integration are insertion into the wrong locus and faulty integration of the transgene. These are called off-target effects. And these effects are not just an issue when designing the gene drive organism but also post-release, when the modified genes are passed on and are exposed to mutation and selection processes. Relevant implications may as well occur on the ecological level, where the released genetically modified organism (GMO) is part of a complex interconnected food web. Here it has to compete for food, space and mates. The concerns comprise so called non-target effects on other populations and species beside the target-population, which might foster unforeseen ecological and evolutionary impacts, such as the population eradication or replacement or the spread of a gene drive beyond the intended area and population. Moreover, an additional matter of concern is if and in what way humans or human health might be affected by a gene drive. Besides effects on ecosystem functions a gene drive might also affect ecosystem services and may thus result in a socio-economic impact. Beyond that, there is still a general legislative lack in regulations concerning gene drive technology. The Spotted Wing Fruit Fly and the Medea-Gene Drive Technique In the following some potential applications and the gene drive approaches which are considered in this context are presented. One recent target organism is the spotted-wing fruit fly (Drosophila suzukii). It is an invasive pest species in California, which lays its eggs into ripening cherries. To be able to do that, the fly possesses an unusually sharp ovipositor with which it punctures the hard skin of the immature fruit. The flies lay one egg per cherry and a female can lay approx. 200 eggs. Therefore, they cause a severe damage of approximately 700 million US Dollars each year. The problem with conventional insecticides is that they kill insects indiscriminately including useful pollinators like bees. Thus, a gene drive using the Medea technique is considered to either eradicate the fly populations by fusing the construct to fertility genes or to alter the flies’ ovipositor so they would not be able to puncture the cherries and would have to alter their behavior [5]. It is important to note, that if as envisioned, such a gene drive would be released in about 5 years it would not only be the very first gene drive at all, but also the first to be released for agro-industrial reasons. This could be a precedent to allow the 100