Genetic & Symbiont Strategies for Controlling Vector Borne Disease

疟疾、登革热和寨卡等病媒传播疾病在许多发展中国家具有破坏性影响，在缺乏有效疫苗的情况下，急需新的控制工具。该网络侧重于两种非常有前途的方法：遗传修饰和使用可遗传的内共生体。这两种方法都需要饲养和释放昆虫病媒，以抑制其种群或阻断病原体的传播。它们是针对性强、针对具体物种的战略，（取决于所采用的具体形式）可能只需要一个短暂的干预阶段，而不是重复使用，因此在环境影响和成本效益方面比杀虫剂具有重大优势。该网络的目标是首次将从事开发和应用这些方法的广泛科学学科的个人聚集在一起，以促进知识交流、方法和技术共享，并鼓励创新的合作研究项目，为新方法或更有效地实施目前正在开发的方法奠定基础。重要的是，鉴于这些方法在发展中国家的潜在影响，该网络将有助于巩固和扩大英国领先科学家与疾病流行国家优秀研究人员之间的联系。该网络涵盖的主题将是：病媒-病原体相互作用;转基因技术;基因驱动系统;不育和性别决定;沃尔巴克氏体和病毒传播阻断;其他内共生体和寄生虫传播阻断;病媒种群生物学/雄性生态和行为;种群建模;社区参与和田间释放试验的最佳做法;这将是一个完全开放的网络，自始至终向新成员开放，我们将积极寻求在这一领域招募新的专门知识，以补充初始成员的知识。网络共同主任、经理和管理委员会将监督网络，并评估成员为新项目提出的启动研究奖申请（最长为期一年），同时沿着成员团体之间进行更多的短期培训和技术交流访问。该网络将组织和宣传三次联合王国年度会议，并提供旅行奖学金以支持与会者。还将在东南亚、非洲和南美洲组织三次区域会议，集中讨论可用于实地的战略，旨在将科学家和决策者聚集在一起，该网络将通过将开发基于遗传和共生体的病媒控制系统的团体聚集在一起，通过交流信息、试剂、专门知识和人员（特别是早期研究人员），改善社区互动。它将创建一个论坛，将联合王国和发展中国家成员聚集在一起，致力于战略的实施，从而汇集经验和改善联系，并将遗传和共生体战略带给新的研究人员，政策制定者和利益相关者。该网络将促进在蚊子中开发的技术和共生体方法向其他疾病媒介系统的转让，并将分子生物学家，生态学家和建模者聚集在一起。它将根据有前途的想法或初步数据为新的项目领域提供资金，重点是快速，轻触式审查，为进一步的长期资助提供一个极好的平台。它将通过共享社区专业知识支持高质量赠款提案的开发，并优先考虑其支持的研究中的新奇。

Vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue and Zika have devastating impact in many developing countries, and in the absence of effective vaccines for most of these diseases, novel control tools are much needed. This network focuses on two highly promising approaches: genetic modification and the use of heritable endosymbionts. Both require the rearing and release of insect disease vectors with the aim of suppressing their populations or blocking the transmission of pathogens. They are highly targeted, species specific strategies, which (depending on the specific form employed) may only require one short intervention phase rather than repeated applications, thus providing major advantages over insecticides in terms of environmental impact and cost effectiveness. Some, for example Wolbachia, are already starting to be deployed in a number of countries.This Network aims, for the first time, to draw together individuals from a broad range of scientific disciplines engaged in developing and deploying these approaches to foster knowledge exchange, methodological and technological sharing, and stimulate innovative collaborative research projects that will lay the foundation for new approaches or more effective implementation of those currently being developed. Importantly, given the potential impact of these approaches in developing countries, this Network will help to consolidate and expand the links between leading UK scientists and excellent researchers based in disease-endemic countries. The themes to be covered by the network will be: vector-pathogen interactions; genetic modification technologies; gene drive systems; sterility and sex determination; Wolbachia and virus transmission blocking; other endosymbionts and parasite transmission blocking; vector population biology / male ecology and behaviour; population modelling; best practise for community engagement and field release trials; and impact assessment and cost-benefit analyses.This will be a fully open network, open to new members throughout, and we will actively seek to recruit new expertise into the field to complement that of the starting group of members. The Network co-Directors, Manager and Management Board will oversee the network and evaluate applications for pump-priming research awards (up to one year duration) for novel projects from members, along with a larger number of short training and technology exchange visits between members' groups. The Network will organize and advertise three annual UK meetings, offering travel bursaries to support attendance. Three regional meetings will also be organised in SE Asia, Africa, and South America, concentrating on strategies that are field-ready and aiming to bring together scientists with policy makers.The network will, by bringing together groups developing genetic and symbiont-based vector control systems, improve community interactions through the exchange of information, reagents, expertise and personnel (especially early stage researchers). It will create a forum to bring together UK and developing country members working on strategy implementation, allowing pooling of experience and improved linkages, and bring genetic and symbiont strategies to new researchers, policy makers and stakeholders. The network will facilitate transfer of technologies and symbiont approaches developed in mosquitoes to other disease vector systems, and bring together molecular biologists, ecologists and modellers. It will pump-prime novel project areas based on promising ideas or preliminary data, with an emphasis on rapid, light-touch review, providing an excellent platform for further longer-term funding. It will support the development of high quality grant proposals, through shared community expertise, and prioritise novelty in the research it supports.