The Species Survival Commission of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently hosted an information webinar geared towards its Latin American members on the potential and limitations of synthetic biology for conservation. This was an opportunity for IUCN members to come to grips with the current state of research in this field, including on engineered gene drives. Island Conservation, a member of the Outreach Network, were able to present on this issue. This event comes ahead of the next session of IUCN’s World Conservation Congress, scheduled to take place in January of next year, at which a motion on synthetic biology will be discussed by IUCN members. A revised draft of this motion following online consultations has recently been published.