A Critical Investigation of Gene Drive Technology

There is established bio-ethical literature related to genomic research and technology, with this literature increasingly also focussing on gene drive technologies.

While such questions are important, these questions often do not critically engage with how gene drive technologies interact with social, political and economic spheres.

Furthermore, there is very limited critical discussion about these technologies from scholars situated in the global South, where some first field trials are set take place.

During this fellowship, I will work on a journal article for publication critically interrogating the social, political and economic dimensions of gene drive technology.

This paper will focus on questions such as, why are the first field trials of this controversial technologies organised in one of the poorest countries in the world, who actually benefits from such research, especially given the convergence of funding from Western governments, philanthropic funders, and the commercial agricultural sector, and what is the impact of these arrangements of local communities and governance structures where gene drive technologies have been proposed to be used.

The publication will begin to articulate these kinds critical questions that must be engaged with, if we are to ensure gene drive technologies does not reproduce historic patterns of inequality.