
New Zealand’s War on Rats Could Change the World - ZoeZoeBee
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/11/new-zealand-predator-free-2050-rats-gene-drive-ruh-roh/546011/?single_page=true
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emilyfm
The province of Alberta, Canada (more than twice the land area of New Zealand)
is free of rats.

In their case, it was largely by stopping rats entering from the east
(Saskatchewan) in the 1950's - there are natural barriers on the other three
sides.

History:
[http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agd...](http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3441)

Still, NZ could be divided into areas that have natural barriers, and
peninulas (plenty of them), and start intensive poisoning barriers in those
areas, expanding towards the sea.

Doesn't need gene editing, which certainly has unknown risks.

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vanattab
>In its raw power, some conservationists see a way of achieving impossible-
sounding feats like exterminating an island’s rats by spreading genes through
the wild population that make it difficult for the animals to reproduce.

How can a gene drive which prevents reproduction spread to the whole
population? And wouldn't it be self limiting? I kinda of seems like me to be
the opposite of a gene drive.

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contingencies
_In 1997, farmers illegally smuggled a hemorrhagic virus into New Zealand to
control rabbit pests._

Interesting.
[https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/798d/8b6f9874ae41d0105b012b...](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/798d/8b6f9874ae41d0105b012b8ac61a24f97221.pdf)

