Thank you for posting this—I agree this is a research area with high potential. I’ve looked into this a bit and one area I’m interested in is using CRISPR gene drives to help eradicate Schistosomiasis and Dengue fever.
It might cost around $0.5-$5 million to develop and $10-$25 million to thoroughly test gene drives to eradicate Schistosomiasis. If it has a 10% chance of success that would be a fairly high expected value.
I’m also interested in gene drives for soil transmitted helminths (STH), though given low mobility, it might take a long time for the gene drive to spread. Work for gene sequencing of STH is currently under way or planned, depending on the species. Once that is complete, it might make sense to look at funding transgenesis, and then gene drives, with the ultimate goal of eradicating STH.
Thank you for posting this—I agree this is a research area with high potential. I’ve looked into this a bit and one area I’m interested in is using CRISPR gene drives to help eradicate Schistosomiasis and Dengue fever.
It might cost around $0.5-$5 million to develop and $10-$25 million to thoroughly test gene drives to eradicate Schistosomiasis. If it has a 10% chance of success that would be a fairly high expected value.
I’m also interested in gene drives for soil transmitted helminths (STH), though given low mobility, it might take a long time for the gene drive to spread. Work for gene sequencing of STH is currently under way or planned, depending on the species. Once that is complete, it might make sense to look at funding transgenesis, and then gene drives, with the ultimate goal of eradicating STH.