Assessing Public Awareness About Gene Drive Technology in Mosquetoes to Prevent Malaria

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By: Narmeen Maqsood

GENE DRIVE TECHNOLOGY OF MOSQUITO TO PREVENT MALARIA :

Gene drives are selfish genetic elements that can be re-designed to invade a population, and they hold tremendous potential for the control of mosquitoes that transmit disease. Much progress has been made recently in demonstrating proof of principle for gene drives able to suppress populations of malarial mosquitoes or to make them refractory to the Plasmodium parasites they transmit. Gene drives that are designed to spread and impose a suppressive effect on either the mosquito or the parasite it transmits are expected eventually, like any intervention, to select for resistance in each organism, respectively. (Nolan.,2020)

Gene-drive-modified mosquitoes hold promise as new tools for the control and elimination of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases. GDMMs aim to achieve area-wide control with characteristics that differ substantially from current insecticide-based mosquito control methods, raising some different regulatory and policy considerations for their development and implementation. Mosquitoes containing gene drive systems are being developed as complementary tools to prevent the transmission of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases. As with any new tool, decision makers and other stakeholders will need to balance risks (safety) and benefits (efficacy) when considering the rationale for testing and deploying gene drive-modified mosquito products (James et al., 2023)

Malaria is a disease transmitted exclusively through the bite of an infected mosquito. As she takes a bloodmeal, an infected mosquito can release a few Plasmodium parasites into the peripheral circulation of the human host, and these are sufficient to establish infection, allowing other mosquitoes to take up parasites in subsequent bites and complete the cycle. Of the 3500 or so mosquito species that exist, only those within the Anopheles genus are actually capable of transmitting human malaria. Among these, about 40 species are capable of transmitting malaria at a level of major concern to public health (Nolan.,2020) . Challenges faced by current programmes to eliminate malaria from high-endemic areas have fostered the development (Nolan) novel control strategies, including those based on genetically modified mosquitoes (Adolfi et al., 2020)

Gene drive promotes or favours the inheritance of certain genes from generation to generation and can be used to introduce new traits rapidly through an interbreeding population. In engineered gene drive systems, the modification responsible for the new trait might involve altering the sequence of existing genes, disabling or excising an existing gene, or introducing new genes or genetic elements into the mosquito genome. These systems aim either to reduce the size of the population of vector mosquitoes by inhibiting their reproduction or survival (population suppression) or to modify the mosquitoes to make them less competent to transmit a pathogen.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE OF SURVEY:

·         Determine the level of awareness among the public regarding Gene Drive technology and its potential applications in mosquito control.

·         Investigate the long-term ecological and environmental impacts of using Gene Drive technology in mosquito

·         Determine any barriers that hinder public acceptance and understanding of Gene Drive technology

·         Evaluate the effectiveness of Gene Drive technology in reducing mosquito populations and subsequently preventing the transmission of malaria.

·         Analyze the genetic diversity of mosquito populations before and after the implementation of Gene Drive technology

REFERENCES:

Hartley, S., Thizy, D., Ledingham, K., Coulibaly, M., Diabaté, A., Dicko, B., Diop, S., Kayondo, J., Namukwaya, A., Nourou, B., & Toé, L. P. (2019, April 25). Knowledge Engagement in Gene Drive Research for Malaria Control. Knowledge engagement in gene drive research for malaria control | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Retrieved September 1, 2023, from https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0007233

James, S. L., Dass, B., & Quemada, H. (2023, March 15). Regulatory and Policy Considerations for the Implementation of Gene Drive-modified Mosquitoes to Prevent Malaria Transmission – Transgenic Research. SpringerLink. Retrieved September 1, 2023, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11248-023-00335-z

Adolfi, A., Gantz, V. M., Jasinskiene, N., Lee, H. F., Hwang, K., Terradas, G., Bulger, E. A., Ramaiah, A., Bennett, J. B., Emerson, J. J., Marshall, J. M., Bier, E., & James, A. A. (2020, November 3). Efficient Population Modification Gene-drive Rescue System in the Malaria Mosquito Anopheles Stephensi – Nature Communications. Nature. Retrieved September 1, 2023, from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19426-0

Nolan, Tony. “Control of Malaria-Transmitting Mosquitoes Using Gene Drives.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 376, no. 1818, 28 Dec. 2020, p. 20190803, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0803.

 

 

 

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