Abstract
The Zika virus led to some experments and speculation regarding creative efforts to crash the population of mosquitoes responsible for spreading the disease. This chapter suggests that developments occurring in mosquito vector control using synthetic biology will introduce new genetic bugaboos into the debate over releasing genetically altered species, both accidentally and purposefully.
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Acknowledgments
This project has been directly supported by a fellowship from the Genetic Engineering and Society Center on the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University. This project has been indirectly supported by the National Science Foundation, an organization that has continued to encourage my critical forays into science communication. The chapter was distilled in part from two book manuscripts under simultaneous preparation on Zika: one technical and the other popular. The popular text includes a substantial focus on how science and technology communication and engagement in infectious disease and epidemic may be optimized in a digital environment. All comments are my own and do not represent those of the GES and its membership, the RTNN (Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network), and North Carolina State University.
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Berube, D.M. (2020). Mosquitoes Bite: A Zika Story of Vector Management and Gene Drives. In: Trump, B., Cummings, C., Kuzma, J., Linkov, I. (eds) Synthetic Biology 2020: Frontiers in Risk Analysis and Governance. Risk, Systems and Decisions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27264-7_7
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