Is there such a thing as a ‘safe’ gene drive? One of the scientists involved in inventing the technique thinks so—now, Kevin Esvelt has committed himself to figuring out how to keep gene drives under control.In 2014, just a couple of years after completing his PhD, Esvelt led a team from George Church’s Harvard lab which showed how CRISPR could be used to make gene drives. It was a eureka moment, he says, followed by a terrifying come-down.
“I personally hold myself morally responsible for all the consequences of CRISPR-based gene drives,” he tells me over Skype. “Because I was the one to think of it—and I was the one foolish enough to tell the world that it was possible.