Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for

 

Date of this Version

12-6-2017

Citation

Invasive Species Advisory Committee, final report, approved December 6, 2017

Also available at https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/isac_advanced_biotechnology_white_paper.pdf

Comments

United States government work

Abstract

Increasingly, genetic tools are being used to detect and solve pressing environmental, social, and health-related challenges. It is clear that investments in technology innovation can be game changing, as advances in biotechnology may provide new methods to protect the nation’s resources from the negative impacts of invasive species. The current toolbox of management options is recognizably insufficient to deal with many of the high-impact species that have been introduced. However, “surrendering” to these species is generally not a viable option from ecological, health, economic, socio-cultural, or political perspectives. Cost-efficient solutions to these “grand invasive species challenges” need to be found. Through processes that strategically alter an organism’s genetic blueprint (aka genome), advanced biotechnologies may substantially improve our capacities to eradicate and/or control populations of invasive species.

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