Experimenting with co-development: A qualitative study of gene drive research for malaria control in Mali

Sarah Hartley, Katie Ledingham, Richard Owen, Sabina Leonelli, Samba Diarra and Samba Diop

Social Science & Medicine, 2021, vol. 276, issue C

Abstract: We investigate how technology ‘co-development’ (between researchers, stakeholders and local communities) is framed in practice by those developing gene drive mosquitos for malaria eradication. Our case study focuses on UK and Mali-based researchers planning to undertake the first field trials in Mali of gene drive mosquitos for malaria control. While they and the wider gene drive research community are explicitly committed to the principle of co-development, how this is framed and practiced is not clear. Through qualitative analysis of 34 interviews complemented by observation and documentary research conducted in 2018, we identify and compare ten framings of co-development mobilised by UK and Malian researchers and stakeholders. For Malians, co-development reflected Mali's broader socio-political context and a desire for African scientific independence and leadership. It was mobilised to secure community and stakeholder support for gene drive mosquito field trials, through outreach, building local scientific capacity and developing those institutions (e.g. regulatory) necessary for field trials to go ahead. For UK participants, co-development was also concerned with scientific capacity-building, knowledge exchange between researchers, and stakeholder and community outreach to secure consent for field trials.

Keywords: Co-development; Mali; UK; Malaria; Vector control; Gene drive mosquitoes; Co-production; Qualitative (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113850

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