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A powerful new technology could be used to “edit” the genomes of organisms in the wild, enabling researchers to block mosquitoes’ ability to spread malaria, for example, or make weeds more vulnerable to pesticides, Harvard scientists proposed Thursday.

In an unusual step, however, the Boston team called for a public debate on the wisdom of their audacious idea to genetically manipulate nature, which they say could lead to inadvertent species extinctions, new genes spreading through the environment in unexpected ways, and unforeseen ecological ripple effects.

In a paper published in the journal eLife, the Harvard group described a technology called a “gene drive,” which would allow scientists to make changes to organisms’ DNA that would spread rapidly through a wild population. For years, researchers have tinkered with organisms’ genomes in order to try and produce a fuel or a drug or a crop with a specific quality, but the new technology is not nearly so limited in scope. It is specifically conceived of as a way to alter the world outside the laboratory, or beyond the boundaries...