Institute On Ethics and Policy for Innovation, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
Imperial College, London, UK.
Malar J. 2022 Feb 5;21(1):35. doi: 10.1186/s12936-022-04062-4.
Progress in gene drive research has engendered a lively discussion about community engagement and the ethical standards the work hinges on. While there is broad agreement regarding ethical principles and established best practices for conducting clinical public health research, projects developing area-wide vector control technologies and initiating ambitious engagement strategies raise specific questions: who to engage, when to engage, and how? When responding to these fundamental questions, with few best practices available for guidance, projects need to reflect on and articulate the ethical principles that motivate and justify their approach. Target Malaria is a not-for-profit research consortium that aims to develop and share malaria control and elimination technology. The consortium is currently investigating the potential of a genetic technique called gene drive to control populations of malaria vectoring mosquito species Anopheles gambiae. Due to the potentially broad geographical, environmental impact of gene drive technology, Target Malaria has committed to a robust form of tailored engagement with the local communities in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Uganda, where research activities are currently taking place. This paper presents the principles guiding Target Malaria's engagement strategy. Herein the authors (i) articulate the principles; (ii) explain the rationale for selecting them; (iii) share early lessons about the application of the principles. Since gene drive technology is an emerging technology, with few best practices available for guidance, the authors hope by sharing these lessons, to add to the growing literature regarding engagement strategies and practices for area-wide vector control, and more specifically, for gene drive research.
基因驱动研究的进展引发了一场关于社区参与和这项工作所依据的伦理标准的热烈讨论。虽然人们对于开展临床公共卫生研究的伦理原则和既定最佳实践有广泛共识，但开发区域范围的矢量控制技术和启动雄心勃勃的参与策略的项目提出了具体问题：与谁接触、何时接触以及如何接触？在回答这些基本问题时，由于几乎没有最佳实践可供指导，项目需要反思并阐明激励和证明其方法合理的伦理原则。靶向疟疾是一个非营利性研究联盟，旨在开发和共享疟疾控制和消除技术。该联盟目前正在研究一种名为基因驱动的遗传技术，以控制疟蚊 Anopheles gambiae 种群。由于基因驱动技术可能具有广泛的地理和环境影响，靶向疟疾已承诺与布基纳法索、马里和乌干达的当地社区进行强有力的定制接触，目前正在这些地方开展研究活动。本文介绍了指导靶向疟疾参与策略的原则。作者在此：(i) 阐明这些原则；(ii) 解释选择它们的理由；(iii) 分享应用这些原则的早期经验。由于基因驱动技术是一种新兴技术，几乎没有最佳实践可供指导，作者希望通过分享这些经验，为有关区域范围矢量控制的参与策略和实践，更具体地说，为基因驱动研究的不断增长的文献做出贡献。
