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All Subjects: Malaria

Analyzing Uncertainties Around Gene Drives: A Case Study of Mosquitos in Sub-Saharan Africa

Description

Malaria is a disease that has plagued human populations throughout history. Malaria is cause by the parasite Plasmodium, which uses mosquitoes as a vector for transfer. Current methods for controlling malaria include issuing bed nets to citizens, spraying home with insecticides, and reactive medical care. However, using Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic repeats (CRISPR) in conjunction with the Cas9 protein found in bacteria, the genomes of mosquitoes can be edited to remove the ability of mosquitoes to host Plasmodium or to create sex bias in which the birth rate of males is increased so as to make reproduction near impossible. Using CRISPR, this genome edit can be ‘driven’ through a population by increasing the likelihood of that gene being passed onto subsequent generations until the entire population possesses that gene; a gene drive can theoretically be used to eliminate malaria around the world. This paper identifies uncertainties concerning scientific, environmental, governance, economic ,and social aspects of researching and implementing gene drives and makes recommendations concerning these areas for the emerging technology of gene drives concerning the eradication of malaria using Sub-Saharan Africa as a case study

ContributorsSacco, Elena Maria (Author) / Frow, Emma (Thesis director) / Maynard, Andrew (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2017-05

The Ethics of Brain-Computer Interfaces

Description

The development of computational systems known as brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) offers the possibility of allowing individuals disabled by neurological disorders such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and ischemic stroke the ability to perform relatively complex tasks such as communicating with others and walking. BCIs are closed-loop systems that record physiological signals from the brain and translate those signals into commands that control an external device such as a wheelchair or a robotic exoskeleton. Despite the potential for BCIs to vastly improve the lives of almost one billion people, one question arises: Just because we can use brain-computer interfaces, should we? The human brain is an embodiment of the mind, which is largely seen to determine a person's identity, so a number of ethical and philosophical concerns emerge over current and future uses of BCIs. These concerns include privacy, informed consent, autonomy, identity, enhancement, and justice. In this thesis, I focus on three of these issues: privacy, informed consent, and autonomy. The ultimate purpose of brain-computer interfaces is to provide patients with a greater degree of autonomy; thus, many of the ethical issues associated with BCIs are intertwined with autonomy. Currently, brain-computer interfaces exist mainly in the domain of medicine and medical research, but recently companies have started commercializing BCIs and providing them at affordable prices. These consumer-grade BCIs are primarily for non-medical purposes, and so they are beyond the scope of medicine. As BCIs become more widespread in the near future, it is crucial for interdisciplinary teams of ethicists, philosophers, engineers, and physicians to collaborate to address these ethical concerns now before BCIs become more commonplace.

ContributorsChu, Kevin Michael (Author) / Ankeny, Casey (Thesis director) / Robert, Jason (Committee member) / Frow, Emma (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School for the Future of Innovation in Society (Contributor) / Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics (Contributor)

Created2016-05

Plasmodium Cost of Resistance and Life Stage Development within the Mosquito Vector

Description

Hundreds of thousands of people die annually from malaria; a protozoan of the genus Plasmodium is responsible for this mortality. The Plasmodium parasite undergoes several life stages within the mosquito vector, the transition between which require passage across the lumen of the mosquito midgut. It has been observed that in about 15% of parasites that develop ookinetes in the mosquito abdomen, sporozoites never develop in the salivary glands, indicating that passage across the midgut lumen is a significant barrier in parasite development (Gamage-Mendis et al., 1993). We aim to investigate a possible correlation between passage through the midgut lumen and drug-resistance trends in Plasmodium falciparum parasites. This study contains a total of 1024 Anopheles mosquitoes: 187 Anopheles gambiae and 837 Anopheles funestus samples collected in high malaria transmission areas of Mozambique between March and June of 2016. Sanger sequencing will be used to determine the prevalence of known resistance alleles for anti-malarial drugs: chloroquine resistance transporter (pfcrt), multidrug resistance (pfmdr1) gene, dihydropteroate synthase (pfdhps) and dihydrofolate reductase (pfdhfr). We compare prevalence of resistance between abdomen and head/thorax in order to determine whether drug resistant parasites are disproportionately hindered during their passage through the midgut lumen. A statistically significant difference between resistance alleles in the two studied body sections supports the efficacy of new anti-malarial gene surveillance strategies in areas of high malaria transmission.

ContributorsPhillips, Keeley Isabella (Author) / Huijben, Silvie (Thesis director) / Gile, Gillian (Committee member) / Young, Steven (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2021-05