BBC Focus - 03.2020

20 IDEAS FE ATURE

PESTSDRIVENOFF

WITHOUTCRUELTY

Labsinvestigategene

drivestofendoffinvasive

specieslikegreysquirrels

and cane toads

Anotherpotentialuseforgene-editingis wipingout

pests.Dubbed“genedrives”,self-replicatingeditsbased

onCRISPRtechnologycouldravagethroughentire

populations.In labtrials,thenewly-introducedDNAoften

makesonesexsterile,duplicatingitselftoinfectboth

copiesofananimal’schromosomessothatit’spassed

ontoallitsoffspring.Somemosquitoeshavedeveloped

resistanceagainstgenedrivemutations,butresearchers

believethey’llbeabletopulloffthetechniqueaslong

astheytargettherightgenes.Forsafety,scientistsare

designing‘override’drivescapableofreversingtheedits.

In a 2018paper, researchersfromEdinburgh’sRoslin

Institute,whichcreatedthefirstclonedsheep(“Dolly”),

suggestedgenedrivescoulddealhumanelywiththe

Australiancanetoadproblem.Thetoxictoadswere

introducedfromHawaiiin 1935andhavekilledalmost

anythingthathastriedtoeatthemeversince.Thesame

scientistsproposecontrollinggreysquirrelswith gene

drives, in order to save the UK’s native reds.

A rapidshiftawayfromusingfossil

fuelsis what’srequiredif we’regoingto

keeptheaverageglobaltemperature

risewithinthe1.5°Cwindowneeded

tomitigatetheworsteffectsofclimate

change.Butthat’snotallwecando.

Insteadoftryingtolimitourcarbon

emissions,thereis scopetoactually

removethemfromtheatmosphere.

That’swhatMicrosoftannouncedit

wouldstartdoing,whenthesoftware

giantkickedoff 2020 byrevealingits

intentiontobecarbonnegativeby2030.

Butthat’snotall;Microsoftalsosaidthat

by2050,it plansto“removefromthe

environmentallthecarbonthecompany

hasemittedsinceit wasfoundedin 1975.”

Achievingthatgoalwilltakemore

thansimplyswitchingtorenewable

energysources,electrifyingitsfleetof

vehiclesandplantingnewforests.Hence,

Microsoftis monitoringthedevelopment

ofnegativeemissionstechnologiesthat

include bioenergy with carbon capture

andstorage(BECCS),anddirectair

capture(DAC).

BECCSusestreesandcropsto

capturecarbonastheygrow.The

treesandplantsarethenburntto

generateelectricitybutthecarbon

emissionsarecapturedandstored

deepunderground.DACusesfansto

drawairthroughfiltersthatremove

thecarbondioxide,whichcanthen

bestoredundergroundorpotentially

eventurnedintoa typeoflow-carbon

syntheticfuel.

Bothmethodssoundpromising

buthaveyettoreacha pointwhere

theyarepracticaloraffordableona

scalenecessaryforthemtohavea

significantimpactonclimatechange.

Microsoft’shope,aswellasthose

ofeveryoneelselookingtoturnthe

tideoftheclimatecrisis,is thatthese

technologies,andothers,willdevelop

furtherovertheyearstocometoa

point that makes them viable.

4

SILICONVALLEYTRIES TO GO

CARBONNEGATIVE

Thetechworldis hopingit canturnbacktheclock

on climate change by removing carbon emissions

5

GETTY IMAGES X2, SAM KRIEGMAN/DOUGLAS BLACKISTON