Is it time for Synthetic Biodiversity Conservation?

Evidence indicates that, despite some critical successes, current conservation approaches are not slowing the overall rate of biodiversity loss. The field of synthetic biology, which is capable of altering natural genomes with extremely precise editing, might offer the potential to resolve some intr...

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Main Authors: Piaggio, A, Segelbacher, G, Seddon, P, Alphey, L, Bennett, E, Carlson, R, Friedman, R, Kanavy, D, Phelan, R, Redford, K, Rosales, M, Slobodian, L, Wheeler, K
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2016
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author Piaggio, A
Segelbacher, G
Seddon, P
Alphey, L
Bennett, E
Carlson, R
Friedman, R
Kanavy, D
Phelan, R
Redford, K
Rosales, M
Slobodian, L
Wheeler, K
author_facet Piaggio, A
Segelbacher, G
Seddon, P
Alphey, L
Bennett, E
Carlson, R
Friedman, R
Kanavy, D
Phelan, R
Redford, K
Rosales, M
Slobodian, L
Wheeler, K
author_sort Piaggio, A
collection OXFORD
description Evidence indicates that, despite some critical successes, current conservation approaches are not slowing the overall rate of biodiversity loss. The field of synthetic biology, which is capable of altering natural genomes with extremely precise editing, might offer the potential to resolve some intractable conservation problems (e.g., invasive species or pathogens). However, it is our opinion that there has been insufficient engagement by the conservation community with practitioners of synthetic biology. We contend that rapid, large-scale engagement of these two communities is urgently needed to avoid unintended and deleterious ecological consequences. To this point we describe case studies where synthetic biology is currently being applied to conservation, and we highlight the benefits to conservation biologists from engaging with this emerging technology.
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spelling oxford-uuid:d7067717-2fb6-4f87-bd39-487a27f8f6eb2022-03-27T08:38:02ZIs it time for Synthetic Biodiversity Conservation?Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:d7067717-2fb6-4f87-bd39-487a27f8f6ebEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordElsevier2016Piaggio, ASegelbacher, GSeddon, PAlphey, LBennett, ECarlson, RFriedman, RKanavy, DPhelan, RRedford, KRosales, MSlobodian, LWheeler, KEvidence indicates that, despite some critical successes, current conservation approaches are not slowing the overall rate of biodiversity loss. The field of synthetic biology, which is capable of altering natural genomes with extremely precise editing, might offer the potential to resolve some intractable conservation problems (e.g., invasive species or pathogens). However, it is our opinion that there has been insufficient engagement by the conservation community with practitioners of synthetic biology. We contend that rapid, large-scale engagement of these two communities is urgently needed to avoid unintended and deleterious ecological consequences. To this point we describe case studies where synthetic biology is currently being applied to conservation, and we highlight the benefits to conservation biologists from engaging with this emerging technology.
spellingShingle Piaggio, A
Segelbacher, G
Seddon, P
Alphey, L
Bennett, E
Carlson, R
Friedman, R
Kanavy, D
Phelan, R
Redford, K
Rosales, M
Slobodian, L
Wheeler, K
Is it time for Synthetic Biodiversity Conservation?
title Is it time for Synthetic Biodiversity Conservation?
title_full Is it time for Synthetic Biodiversity Conservation?
title_fullStr Is it time for Synthetic Biodiversity Conservation?
title_full_unstemmed Is it time for Synthetic Biodiversity Conservation?
title_short Is it time for Synthetic Biodiversity Conservation?
title_sort is it time for synthetic biodiversity conservation
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