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

该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，建立和评估转基因生物影响的研究生课程。最近，世界上第一次在野外释放了一种经过基因改造的蚊子，这种蚊子可以抑制人类疾病的传播。关于这一释放的适当性存在大量争论，并且正在设计更复杂的转基因害虫菌株，以实施农业害虫和入侵物种的遗传害虫管理（GPM）。这些发展引起了继续围绕转基因农作物的辩论。鉴于这一传统，GPM的未来很可能由社会动态和技术进步决定。智力优势：该IGERT整合了不同的学科，但它通过研究GPM目标的一小部分物种来保持学员的重点。通过一系列IGERT必修课程，包括在拉丁美洲举办的课程，所有学生都将接受核心跨学科培训，包括分子生物学，群体遗传学，伦理学，通信，经济学和生态学。每个学生专攻一门学科，并以一个或多个以目标物种为中心的实质性章节撰写论文。更广泛的影响：该IGERT将1）改进评估和引入新技术的方法，特别是在许多针对GPM的害虫所在的较贫穷国家; 2）评估跨学科研究生教育的新模式; 3）为生物和社会科学领域代表性不足的群体的学生提供综合教育;以及4）为博士生准备需要跨学科技能和对全球问题和文化的理解的职业。IGERT是一个NSF范围内的计划，旨在满足教育美国博士的挑战。具有跨学科背景的科学家和工程师，在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新模式，在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.