SBSTTA 26: Ensuring good governance of synthetic biology

As participants in the 26th Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 26) of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), we will be sharing insights through articles authored by members of the CBD-Alliance's Working Group on Synthetic Biology, to which we belong. Key topics of discussion at the Nairobi conference include synthetic biology and the risk…

Interview with Arnaud Nouvion

Gene Drives will most probably be released first to fight malaria. We therefore created this series of interviews with health care experts, researchers and civil society to amplify their voices and concerns around this technology. How is the financial situation around Malaria? “It is great how much money is available these days to fight diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis or aids. The Global…

Interview mit Prof. Pamela Weathers

Interview mit Prof. Pamela Weathers Die Gene Drive Technologie birgt hohe Risiken. Dennoch wird sie von der Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation als Lösung gegen Malaria propagiert. Anlässlich des Welt-Malaria-Tages startet die Stop Gene Drives Kampagne ein Projekt, das verschiedene Perspektiven auf Möglichkeiten der Malariabekämpfung aufzeigt. Prof. Pamela Weathers ist eine…

Welt-Malaria-Tag: Braucht es Gene Drives zur Malariabekämpfung?

Infektionskrankheiten wie Malaria, Dengue-Fieber und Borreliose werden von sogenannten Vektoren wie Mücken oder Zecken auf den Menschen übertragen. Im Fall von Malaria wird der Erreger und damit die Krankheit ausschließlich durch Anophelesmücken verbreitet. Ein globales Programm der Malariakontrolle hat bisher dazu beigetragen, die Krankheit in vielen Regionen der Welt zurückzudrängen. Bereits…

Gene drives regulated for the first time in genetic engineering law

On June 7, 2019, the Federal Council spoke out in favour of tightening the safety requirements for laboratory experiments with gene drive organisms (GDO) in the Genetic Engineering Safety Ordinance. In addition, it also demands the development of GDO-specific safety measures and calls on the German government to give special weight to nature conservation. Mosquitoes, flies and mice, but also…

The UN CBD working group is meeting in Kenya these days

What is happening in Nairobi? Kenya is currently hosting the Fourth Open Ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Delegates from all countries that are part of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity are gathering at UN Environment Programme headquarters in Nairobi from the 21st to the 26st of June to discuss goals and targets for the proposed post-2020…

Gene drives are the opposite of nature conservation

Civil society organisations around the globe demand a moratorium on genetically engineered gene drives at UN Biodiversity Conference Berlin, 1 December 2022 - Ahead of the UN Biodiversity Conference COP 15 and its Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in Montreal over 140 civil society organisations from Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Americas have issued a joint manifesto exposing…

The CBD as a vehicle to promote biotechnology?

Fresh from COP16, our campaigner reports on the push to shift the CBD’s focus from regulating gene drives and other biotechnologies to promoting them—putting biodiversity at risk. Read the full article as published in today’s ECO: As biotechnology reaches ever greater capabilities to “re-design” nature, some want to turn the CBD into a place for the promotion rather than regulation of…

World Malaria Day: Do we need gene drives to fight malaria?

Gene drive technology carries high risks. Yet it is being promoted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a solution to malaria. On the occasion of World Malaria Day, the Stop Gene Drives campaign is launching a project that presents different perspectives on the issue of malaria control and highlights alternative, possibly less risky approaches and innovations to combat malaria.…