Proceedings of an expert workshop on community agreement for gene drive research in Africa - Co-organised by KEMRI, PAMCA and Target Malaria

Delphine Thizy^#¹, Lea Pare Toe^#², Charles Mbogo^#^{3

4}, Damaris Matoke-Muhia^#^{4

5}, Vincent Pius Alibu^#⁶, S Kathleen Barnhill-Dilling^#⁷, Tracey Chantler^#⁸, Gershom Chongwe^#⁹, Jason Delborne^#⁷, Lydia Kapiriri^#¹⁰, Esther Nassonko Kavuma^#¹¹, Sethlomo Koloi-Keaikitse^#¹², Ana Kormos^#¹³, Katherine Littler^#¹⁴, Dickson Lwetoijera^#¹⁵, Roberta Vargas de Moraes^#¹⁶, Noni Mumba^#³, Lilian Mutengu^#¹⁷, Sylvia Mwichuli^#¹⁸, Silvia Elizabeth Nabukenya^#¹⁹, Janet Nakigudde^#²⁰, Paul Ndebele^#²¹, Carolyne Ngara^#²², Eric Ochomo^#²³, Simon Odiwuor Ondiek^#³, Stephany Rivera^#¹⁶, Aaron J Roberts^#¹⁶, Benjamin Robinson^#²⁴, Rodrick Sambakunsi^#²⁵, Abha Saxena^#^{26

27}, Naima Sykes^#¹, Brian B Tarimo^#²⁸, Nicki Tiffin^#²⁹, Karen H Tountas^#³⁰

Affiliations

¹ Imperial College London, London, UK.
² Institut de Recherche en Science de la Santé, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
³ Kenyan Institute of Medical Research, Kilifi, Kenya.
⁴ Pan African Mosquito Control Association, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁵ Kenyan Institute of Medical Research, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁶ Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
⁷ North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA.
⁸ London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
⁹ Tropical Diseases Research Centre, Ndola, Ndola, Zambia.
¹⁰ Department of Health, Ageing and Society, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
¹¹ Jenak Investments Limited, Kampala, Uganda.
¹² faculty of education, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.
¹³ University of California Irvine Malaria Initiative, Irvine, USA.
¹⁴ Global Health Ethics Unit, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁵ Ifakara Health Institute, Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania.
¹⁶ Institute on Ethics and Policy for Innovation, Faculty of Humanities, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
¹⁷ African Academy of Sciences, Nairobi, Kenya.
¹⁸ International Center for Evaluation and Development, nairobi, Kenya.
¹⁹ Infectious Diseases Institute, Kampala, Uganda.
²⁰ College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
²¹ Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington DC, USA.
²² Wellcome Trust,UK, London, UK.
²³ Kenyan Institute of Medical Research, Kisumu, Kenya.
²⁴ Emerging Ag., Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
²⁵ Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Program, Blantyre, Malawi.
²⁶ The INCLEN Trust International, Delhi, India.
²⁷ Institut Ethique Histoire Humanités, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
²⁸ Vector Immunity and Transmission Biology Unit, Department of Environmental Health and Ecological Sciences,, ifakara Health Institute, Bagamoyo, Tanzania.
²⁹ Division of Computational Biology, and Wellcome Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
³⁰ Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 33884362
PMCID: PMC8042295
DOI: 10.12688/gatesopenres.13221.2

Proceedings of an expert workshop on community agreement for gene drive research in Africa - Co-organised by KEMRI, PAMCA and Target Malaria

Delphine Thizy et al. Gates Open Res. 2021.

. 2021 Mar 24:5:19.

doi: 10.12688/gatesopenres.13221.2. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Imperial College London, London, UK.
² Institut de Recherche en Science de la Santé, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
³ Kenyan Institute of Medical Research, Kilifi, Kenya.
⁴ Pan African Mosquito Control Association, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁵ Kenyan Institute of Medical Research, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁶ Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
⁷ North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA.
⁸ London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
⁹ Tropical Diseases Research Centre, Ndola, Ndola, Zambia.
¹⁰ Department of Health, Ageing and Society, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
¹¹ Jenak Investments Limited, Kampala, Uganda.
¹² faculty of education, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.
¹³ University of California Irvine Malaria Initiative, Irvine, USA.
¹⁴ Global Health Ethics Unit, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁵ Ifakara Health Institute, Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania.
¹⁶ Institute on Ethics and Policy for Innovation, Faculty of Humanities, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
¹⁷ African Academy of Sciences, Nairobi, Kenya.
¹⁸ International Center for Evaluation and Development, nairobi, Kenya.
¹⁹ Infectious Diseases Institute, Kampala, Uganda.
²⁰ College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
²¹ Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington DC, USA.
²² Wellcome Trust,UK, London, UK.
²³ Kenyan Institute of Medical Research, Kisumu, Kenya.
²⁴ Emerging Ag., Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
²⁵ Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Program, Blantyre, Malawi.
²⁶ The INCLEN Trust International, Delhi, India.
²⁷ Institut Ethique Histoire Humanités, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
²⁸ Vector Immunity and Transmission Biology Unit, Department of Environmental Health and Ecological Sciences,, ifakara Health Institute, Bagamoyo, Tanzania.
²⁹ Division of Computational Biology, and Wellcome Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
³⁰ Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 33884362
PMCID: PMC8042295
DOI: 10.12688/gatesopenres.13221.2

Abstract

Gene drive research is progressing towards future field evaluation of modified mosquitoes for malaria control in sub-Saharan Africa. While many literature sources and guidance point to the inadequacy of individual informed consent for any genetically modified mosquito release, including gene drive ones, (outside of epidemiological studies that might require blood samples) and at the need for a community-level decision, researchers often find themselves with no specific guidance on how that decision should be made, expressed and by whom. Target Malaria, the Kenya Medical Research Institute and the Pan African Mosquito Control Association co-organised a workshop with researchers and practitioners on this topic to question the model proposed by Target Malaria in its research so far that involved the release of genetically modified sterile male mosquitoes and how this could be adapted to future studies involving gene drive mosquito releases for them to offer reflections about potential best practices. This paper shares the outcomes of that workshop and highlights the remaining topics for discussion before a comprehensive model can be designed.

Keywords: Consent; agreement; community acceptance; gene drive; genetically modified mosquitoes; stakeholder engagement.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: Delphine Thizy, Lea Pare Toe and Naima Sykes have interests that might be perceived as competing interests as they are working for Target Malaria, a not-for-profit project developing gene drive technologies to complement existing tools for malaria control. Similarly, Lydia Kapiriri, Abha Saxena and Paul Ndebele are currently serving as members of Target Malaria's independent ethics advisory committee. They have no other role in the Target Malaria project.

Figures

**Figure 1.. Areas of differing stakeholder engagement.**

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. African Union: Gene Drives for Malaria Control and Elimination in Africa.2018. Reference Source
1. Barry N, Toé P, Toe LP, et al. : Motivations and Expectations Driving Community Participation in Entomological Research Projects: Target Malaria as a Case Study in Bana, Western Burkina Faso. Malar J. 2020;19(1):199. 10.1186/s12936-020-03277-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Feachem RGA, Chen I, Akbari O, et al. : Malaria Eradication within a Generation: Ambitious, Achievable, and Necessary. Lancet. 2019;394(10203):1056–1112. 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31139-0 - DOI - PubMed
1. George DR, Kuiken T, Delborne JA: Articulating 'free, Prior and Informed Consent' (FPIC) for Engineered Gene Drives. Proc Biol Sci. 2019;286(1917):20191484. 10.1098/rspb.2019.1484 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Hartley S, Thizy D, Ledingham K, et al. : Knowledge Engagement in Gene Drive Research for Malaria Control. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2019;13(4): e0007233. 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007233 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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Proceedings of an expert workshop on community agreement for gene drive research in Africa - Co-organised by KEMRI, PAMCA and Target Malaria

Affiliations

Proceedings of an expert workshop on community agreement for gene drive research in Africa - Co-organised by KEMRI, PAMCA and Target Malaria

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources