The Gene Drive dashboard enables you to explore the effects of a single release of gene drive mosquitoes with different values of various gene drive system and vector population parameters on malaria elimination probabilities and prevalence, as well as vector populations and genetics. Eight year-long simulations of population replacement gene drive mosquito release were run using EMOD 2.20 in a highly seasonal Sahelian setting over a 300 square kilometer region. Here elimination is defined as occurring when malaria prevalence reaches zero by the end of simulation year 7 and remains at zero through the end of simulation year 8 across the entire spatial region.
The parameters that can be explored here include the following:
- The probability of copying over the driver and/or effector genes when the driver gene is present (also known as drive efficiency; d in the classic case, d1 in the integral case)
- The ability of the introduced effector gene to suppress malaria transmission in mosquitoes (also known as the transmission-blocking effectiveness of the drive, rc)
- The pre-existing frequency of target site resistant alleles in the population (rr0 in the classic case, rr20 at the effector target site in the integral case)
- The fitness cost associated with expressing the introduced driver and effector genes, represented by an increase in vector mortality (sne in the classic case, se2 associated with the effector in the integral case).
The paper associated with these visualizations and results can be found here.