This is far more scary then “GMO.” These folks are proposing to create viruses that literally would control evolution.
From the NY Times
Biologists in the United States and Europe are developing a revolutionary genetic technique that promises to provide an unprecedented degree of control over insect-borne diseases and crop pests. The technique involves a mechanism called a gene drive system, which propels a gene of choice throughout a population. No gene drives have yet been tested in the wild, but in laboratory organisms like the fruit fly, they have converted almost the entire population to carry the favored version of a gene.
In agriculture, biologists envisage gene drive systems that could destroy or modify insect pests, and reverse genetic resistance to pesticides in species that had acquired it. Gene drives may also be used to squelch populations of harmful invasive species like rats.
The issue of risk, rather than effectiveness, has dominated discussion for the last several months. Biologists are eager to see the benefits of the technology realized, and wish to avoid any consequences that might erode public confidence or get gene drive systems off on the wrong foot, as has happened with genetically modified foods. Several articles published in the last few months propose specific safety precautions and call for full public discussion of gene drives, along with speedy regulation.
Because a single escaped organism carrying a gene drive system “could alter a substantial fraction of the wild population with unpredictable ecological consequences, the decision to deploy a gene drive must be made collectively by society,” a group of scientists, led by George M. Church of Harvard Medical School, said in Nature Biotechnology last month.