Doctoral Dissertation Research: Vectors of Health: Science and the Making of Modified Mosquitoes

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

Aedes aegypti rose to international notoriety most recently for transmitting the Zika virus, causing a disease linked to babies born with microcephaly and other health issues. This insect species is also a vector for other viral diseases, including dengue, chikungunya, and urban yellow fever. The geographical expansion of the vector A. aegypti and the interconnectedness of the planet are all matters that increase the concern about mosquito-borne diseases in global attempts to govern and secure life. In the wake of the Zika outbreak, the World Health Organization endorsed pilot implementations of modified mosquitoes as a new vector control tool. The project, which trains a student in the methods of empirical, scientific data collection and analysis, explores several such pilot efforts to modify A. aegypti. Further, it would broaden the participation of groups underrepresented in science, build capacity and scientific infrastructure through international scientific cooperation, and enhance public scientific understanding by broadly disseminating findings to organizations engaged in public health policies for mosquito-borne diseases. Luisa Castro, under the supervision of the Dr. Stepfan Helmreich of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will explore different models of modifying A. aegypti, with the aim of evaluating whether different scalar approaches impact understandings of health outcomes and anthropogenic processes. International and local media marked Brazil as the epicenter of the 2016 Zika epidemic. In the last years, the country has also been struggling with dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever outbreaks. However, these diseases are not only a problem for endemic countries like Brazil. This research will be conducted in different regions in Brazil, in order to ethnographically investigate three scientific projects that strive biologically to modify A. aegypti in order to deploy them to control local populations of these insects. Each project implements a different type of modification: one infects A. aegypti with the Wolbachia bacterium to curtail the mosquito's ability to transmit viruses; the other irradiates the mosquito to sterilize it; and yet, a third genetically engineers the mosquito to limit its reproduction. By accompanying researchers and workers in their daily practices between lab and field, the researcher will collect data on the efforts to develop these technologies, and the imaginaries and justificatory logics that surround their implementation. Person-centered interviews, a technique used frequently in psychological anthropology, among a sample of 60-75. She will also investigate how modified mosquitoes conform and rearrange Brazilian policies for controlling mosquito-borne diseases, historically oriented around human behavioral reforms and toxic chemicals. Being attentive to the professional experiences and training of those involved in these projects, she will also observe how scientists, lab workers, and government officials assess methodologies, formulate theoretical engagements, and frame their political positions and personal aspirations in their goal to transform research into health applications. This project proposes to trace the confluence of natural, scientific, and political agendas, practices, and strategies, particularly in the context of diseases. It will provide specificity to analytical reflections on social-cultural drivers of anthropogenic processes and the solutions proposed to mitigate their effects. The project aims to develop a historically-informed critical theory of health around mosquito-borne diseases that takes seriously the environmental dynamics, politics, and social power relations that inform these interactions. In times of growing anxieties about mosquito-borne diseases, and burgeoning solutions of how to control them, an ethnographically rich account can contribute to debates to develop more comprehensive, reflective, and effective policies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.