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造成了毁灭性的影响，在大多数这些疾病缺乏有效疫苗的情况下，迫切需要新的控制工具。这个网络集中在两个非常有前途的方法：基因改造和使用可遗传的内共生体。两者都需要饲养和释放昆虫病媒，目的是抑制其种群或阻止病原体的传播。它们是高度针对性的、针对特定物种的策略，（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。其中一些，例如沃尔巴克氏体，已经开始在一些国家部署。该网络旨在首次将从事开发和部署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，并刺激创新的合作研究项目，这些项目将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，这个网络将有助于巩固和扩大英国主要科学家与疾病流行国家的优秀研究人员之间的联系。该网络将涵盖的主题将是：媒介-病原体相互作用；基因改造技术；基因驱动系统；不育和性别决定；阻断沃尔巴克氏体及其传播；其他内共生体和寄生虫传播阻断；媒介种群生物学/雄性生态学和行为；人口模型;社区参与和实地释放试验的最佳做法；以及影响评估和成本效益分析。这将是一个完全开放的网络，向所有新成员开放，我们将积极寻求在该领域招募新的专业知识，以补充创始成员的专业知识。该网络的联合主任、经理和管理委员会将监督该网络，并评估成员为新项目提出的激励研究奖（为期一年）申请，同时在成员小组之间进行大量的短期培训和技术交流访问。该网络将组织和宣传三次年度英国会议，并提供旅行奖学金以支持出席。还将在东南亚、非洲和南美洲组织三次区域性会议，集中讨论已准备好在实地实施的战略，旨在将科学家与决策者聚集在一起。该网络将把开发遗传和共生体病媒控制系统的团体聚集在一起，通过交换信息、试剂、专门知识和人员（特别是早期研究人员）来改善社区互动。它将创建一个论坛，把致力于战略实施的英国和发展中国家成员聚集在一起，允许汇集经验和改进联系，并将遗传和共生战略带给新的研究人员、决策者和利益相关者。该网络将促进在蚊子中开发的技术和共生方法向其他病媒系统的转移，并将分子生物学家、生态学家和建模者聚集在一起。它将根据有希望的想法或初步数据，为新项目领域注入资金，重点是快速、轻松的审查，为进一步的长期融资提供一个极好的平台。它将通过共享社区专业知识来支持高质量拨款提案的发展，并优先考虑它所支持的研究的新颖性。

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.