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Centre for International Environmental Studies
03 June 2021

Strange Natures: conservation in the era of synthetic biology

Recording of CIES' latest online event with Prof Bill Adams

Synthetic biology gives scientists unprecedented powers to reshape the genomes of living organisms. The technologies of gene editing are starting to transform the agricultural and biotechnology industries, with numerous applications in areas such as public health, pest control and food production. Their use in the field of nature conservation is also being discussed, for example to control invasive species, to fight wildlife disease, or even to bring extinct species back from the dead. How should conservationists think about such interventions? Is gene editing a vital tool in the conservation toolbox, or a threat to wild nature?  When scientists can use synthetic biology to reshape genes more or less at will, what does the conservation of nature mean? 

Check out the recording of this online event, which took place on 27 May 2021, with Professor Bill Adams, Claudio Segré Chair of Conservation and Development at the Graduate Institute of Geneva, Professor Tim Swanson, André Hoffmann Chair in Environmental Economics, CIES Co-Director and Professor Professor Marc Hufty, Development Studies, CIES faculty member.

Strange Natures: conservation in the era of synthetic biology