Dean of the College Presents
Modeling Wolbachia Transmission in Wild Anopheles Mosquitoes
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Reem-Kayden Center Laszlo Z. Bito '60 Auditorium
4:45 pm EST/GMT-5
4:45 pm EST/GMT-5
Lauren Childs
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Wolbachia are intracellular bacteria that are widespread in mosquito species and are known to limit the spread of insect-borne human pathogens including dengue, malaria and worms. The success of Wolbachia is attributed to a variety of ways in which the bacterium manipulates its host to promote fitness of infected females and increase transmission as bacteria are passed from mothers to offspring. Although long-proposed as a tool for the control of dengue, until recently it was thought that Anopheles mosquitoes, the vectors of human malaria, were unable to be infected by Wolbachia. Recent observations in Burkina Faso showed stable but low persistence of Wolbachia infections in Anopheles mosquitoes. Here, I present an ordinary differential equation model of Wolbachia infection in Anopheles mosquitoes developed in collaboration with students from the Summer Research Program in Epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. We demonstrate the persistence of Wolbachia at low prevalence in the context of varied reproductive phenotypes. Through analysis of our model, we determine which phenotypes are most important for persistence of Wolbachia infection, aiding survival of Wolbachia infected laboratory populations.
For more information, call 845-758-7266, or e-mail [email protected].
Time: 4:45 pm EST/GMT-5
Location: Reem-Kayden Center Laszlo Z. Bito '60 Auditorium