Keywords: field trial

Efficacy of Wolbachia-mediated sterility to reduce the incidence of dengue: a synthetic control study in Singapore

Jue Tao Lim, Somya Bansal*, Chee Seng Chong*, Borame Dickens, Youming Ng, Lu Deng, Caleb Lee, Li Yun Tan, Grace Chain, Pei Ma, Shuzhen Sim, Cheong Huat Tan, Alex R Cook, Lee Ching Ng,  The Lancet Microbe,  2024.
Our study comprised an at-risk population of 607 872 individuals living in intervention sites and 3 894 544 individuals living in control sites. Interventions demonstrated up to 77·28% (121/156, 95% CI 75·81–78·58) intervention efficacy despite incomplete coverage ...
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Impact of randomised wmel Wolbachia deployments on notified dengue cases and insecticide fogging for dengue control in Yogyakarta City

C. Indriani, S. K. Tanamas, U. Khasanah, M. R. Ansari, Rubangi, W. Tantowijoyo, R. A. Ahmad, S. M. Dufault, N. P. Jewell, A. Utarini, C. P. Simmons and K. L. Anders,  Glob Health Action,  16:2166650. 2023.
BACKGROUND: Releases of Wolbachia (wMel)-infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes significantly reduced the incidence of virologically confirmed dengue in a previous cluster randomised trial in Yogyakarta City, Indonesia. Following the trial, wMel releases were extended to the untreated ...
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First U.S. Open-Air Test of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Deemed a Success

S. Kuta,  Smithosonian Magazine,  2022.
A private company that released genetically modified mosquitoes into the open air of the Florida Keys last spring says the experiment was a success, reports Emily Waltz for Nature. Oxitec, a United Kingdom-based biotech firm initially founded at Oxford University, released the ...
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EVITA Dengue: a cluster-randomized controlled trial to EValuate the efficacy of Wolbachia-InfecTed Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in reducing the incidence of Arboviral infection in Brazil

M. H. Collins, G. E. Potter, M. D. T. Hitchings, E. Butler, M. Wiles, J. K. Kennedy, S. B. Pinto, A. B. M. Teixeira, A. Casanovas-Massana, N. G. Rouphael, G. A. Deye, C. P. Simmons, L. A. Moreira, M. L. Nogueira, D. A. T. Cummings, A. I. Ko, M. M. Teixeir,  Trials,  23:185. 2022.
BACKGROUND: Arboviruses transmitted by Aedes aegypti including dengue, Zika, and chikungunya are a major global health problem, with over 2.5 billion at risk for dengue alone. There are no licensed antivirals for these infections, and safe and effective vaccines are not yet ...
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Identifying Sites for Testing Modified Mosquitoes as a Strategy to Eradicate Malaria

A. Fell,  UC Davis News,  2021.
In a newly published article in the journal Evolutionary Applications Professor Greg Lanzaro and his team at the Vector Genetics Laboratory, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, set forth a framework for the selection of field sites in Africa best suited for testing ...
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Burkina Faso Testing Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Curb Malaria

H. Wilkins,  Voice of America,  2021.
The mosquito-borne disease malaria kills more than 400,000 people each year, the vast majority in Africa. Target Malaria, an international group of scientists, is working in Burkina Faso on a genetic solution. Abdoulaye Diabate, with the West African country’s Research ...
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Small-Cage Laboratory Trials of Genetically-Engineered Anopheline Mosquitoes

R. Carballar-Lejarazú, T. B. Pham, V. Bottino-Rojas, A. Adolfi and A. A. James,  J Vis Exp,  2021.
Control of mosquito-borne pathogens using genetically-modified vectors has been proposed as a promising tool to complement conventional control strategies. CRISPR-based homing gene drive systems have made transgenic technologies more accessible within the scientific community. ...
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Selection of Sites for Field Trials of Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes with Gene Drive

G. C. Lanzaro, M. Campos, M. Crepeau, A. Cornel, A. Estrada, H. Gripkey, Z. Haddad, A. Kormos, S. Palomares and W. Sharpee,  bioRxiv,  2021.04.28.441877. 2021.
Novel malaria control strategies using genetically engineered mosquitoes (GEMs) are on the horizon. Population modification is one approach wherein mosquitoes are engineered with genes rendering them refractory to the malaria parasite coupled with a low-threshold, Cas9-based gene ...
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Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) against Aedes Species Mosquitoes: A Roadmap and Good Practice Framework for Designing, Implementing and Evaluating Pilot Field Trials

C. F. Oliva, M. Q. Benedict, C. M. Collins, T. Baldet, R. Bellini, H. Bossin, J. Bouyer, V. Corbel, L. Facchinelli, F. Fouque, M. Geier, A. Michaelakis, D. Roiz, F. Simard, C. Tur and L.-C. Gouagna,  Insects,  12. 2021.
We offer here a pragmatic and accessible ‘roadmap’ for the pre-pilot and pilot phases to guide any interested party. This will support stakeholders, non-specialist scientists, implementers, and decision-makers. Applying these concepts will ensure, given adequate resources, a ...
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Application of the Relationship-Based Model to Engagement for Field Trials of Genetically Engineered Malaria Vectors

A. Kormos, G. C. Lanzaro, E. Bier, G. Dimopoulos, J. M. Marshall, J. Pinto, A. Aguiar dos Santos, A. Bacar, H. Sousa Pontes Sacramento Rompão and A. A. James,  The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,  2020.
Although guidelines and recommendations for engagement for gene drives have recently been described, we argue here that communities and stakeholders should lead the planning, development, and implementation phases of engagement. The RBM provides a new approach to the development ...
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Scientists paved the way for field trials of gene-driven organisms

K. Winslet,  FLORIDA News Times,  2020.
The recent rise of gene drive research, accelerated by CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology, has brought about a wave of transformation throughout science.Developed with selected traits that have been genetically engineered to spread throughout the population, Gene Drive ...
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Scientists Set a Path for Field Trials of Gene Drive Organisms

M. Aguilera,  UC San Diego News Center,  2020.
The modern rise of gene drive research, accelerated by CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology, has led to transformational waves rippling across science. Gene drive organisms (GDOs), developed with select traits that are genetically engineered to spread through a population, have ...
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Swarms of genetically modified mosquitoes could soon be descending on Florida

A. J. Dellinger,  Mic,  2020.
Mosquitoes are a pain in the ass, so much so that the Environmental Protection Agency has approved a new and controversial field test aimed at curbing their population.
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Scientists release sterile mosquitoes in Burkina to fight malaria

T. Ndiaga,  Reuters,  2019.
Scientists in Burkina Faso have deployed a new weapon in the fight against malaria, and waded into a thorny bioethics debate, by letting loose thousands of genetically sterilized mosquitoes.Their experiment is the first outside the lab to release genetically altered mosquitoes in ...
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Informed consent in field trials of gene-drive mosquitoes

P. A. Kolopack and J. V. Lavery,  Gates Open Research,  2017.
We argue that informed consent from individual research participants in gene drive trials may be required: (1) when blood and other forms of clinical data are collected from them, as will likely be the case in some studies involving epidemiological endpoints, such as the ...
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A Revolutionary Genetic Experiment is Planned for a West African Village – If Residents Agree

Ike Swetitz,  STAT,  2017.
This small village of mud-brick homes in West Africa might seem the least likely place for an experiment at the frontier of biology. Yet scientists here are engaged in what could be the most promising, and perhaps one of the most frightening, biological experiments of our ...
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