IGERT- Genetic Engineering and Society: The Case of Transgenic Pests

这个综合研究生教育和研究培训（IGERT）奖支持世界上第一个专门培训研究生了解、构建和评估转基因生物影响的研究生项目。世界上最近首次公开释放了一种用于抑制人类疾病传播的基因工程蚊子。关于这种释放的适当性存在大量争论，并且有更复杂的转基因害虫菌株被设计用于实施农业害虫和入侵物种的遗传有害生物管理（GPM）。这些发展引发了围绕转基因农作物的争论。鉴于这一遗留问题，政府绩效管理的未来很可能由社会动态和技术进步共同决定。智力优势：这个IGERT整合了不同的学科，但它通过研究作为GPM目标的一小部分物种来保持受训人员的重点。通过一系列必修的IGERT课程，包括在拉丁美洲举办的课程，所有学生都接受核心跨学科培训，包括分子生物学、人口遗传学、伦理学、通信、经济学和生态学。每个学生专攻一门学科，并撰写一篇论文，其中包含一个或多个以目标物种为中心的实质性章节。更广泛的影响：这一IGERT将1)改进评估和引进新技术的方法，特别是在有许多害虫被列为GPM目标的较贫穷国家；2)评估跨学科研究生教育的新模式；3)为来自生物和社会科学领域代表性不足群体的学生提供综合教育；4)为需要跨学科技能和对全球问题和文化的理解的职业生涯准备博士学位。IGERT是一项nsf范围内的计划，旨在满足教育美国博士科学家和工程师的挑战，他们具有跨学科背景，所选学科的深厚知识，以及未来职业需求所需的技术，专业和个人技能。该计划旨在通过建立创新的研究生教育和培训模式，在一个超越传统学科界限的合作研究的肥沃环境中，促进研究生教育的文化变革。

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award supports the first graduate program in the world specifically training graduate students to understand, build, and assess impacts of transgenic organisms. The world recently witnessed the first open field release of a mosquito genetically engineered for suppressing transmission of a human disease. There is substantial debate regarding the appropriateness of this release and there are more complex transgenic pest strains being engineered for implementing Genetic Pest Management (GPM) of agricultural pests and invasive species. These developments evoke debates that continue to surround transgenic agricultural crops. Given this legacy, the future of GPM is likely to be determined by both social dynamics and technological advances. Intellectual Merit: This IGERT integrates diverse disciplines, but it maintains the focus of trainees by studying a small set of species that are targets for GPM. Through a series of required IGERT courses, including one held in Latin America, all students receive core transdisciplinary training encompassing molecular biology, population genetics, ethics, communication, economics, and ecology. Each student specializes in one discipline and develops a dissertation with one or more substantial chapters centered on a target species. Broader Impacts: This IGERT will 1) improve methodologies for assessing and introducing new technologies, especially in poorer nations where many pests targeted for GPM are located; 2) evaluate a novel model for transdisciplinary graduate education; 3) provide integrative education to students from underrepresented groups in areas across the biological and social sciences; and 4) prepare Ph.D.s for careers requiring interdisciplinary skills and an understanding of global issues and cultures. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.