This project aims to explore Islamic and Confucian perspectives on ethical issues pertaining to human genome editing namely safety and efficacy of the technology, human dignity and rights, modifying God’s creation, and human genetic enhancement. It will identify the similarities and differences between both perspectives and highlight the common ethical principles that could be applied in assessing the permissibility of human genome editing technology. This project is a qualitative study that involve normative literature analysis and comparative analysis between Islamic and Confucian perspectives. Given that Islam and Confucianism are among the main ethical traditions in the world, findings from this project would help stakeholders in understanding both perspectives and formulating policies and guidelines regarding responsible research and use of human genome editing. It is hoped that it would encourage more cross-cultural studies that contribute to the global discussion on ethics of human genome editing.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global issue with almost 5 million deaths annually being associated with AMR. Almost half of these deaths occur in Asia. Development of new antimicrobials has typically relied on clinical trial sites in Eastern Europe, especially in The Ukraine and Russia. ADVANCE-ID is a Wellcome supported infectious diseases clinical trials network comprising over 50 sites in Asia. It currently recruits 80+ patients per week into an observational study of ventilator-associated pneumonia and hospital-acquired bloodstream infections. The extent of AMR in these study sites and the experience of ADVANCE-ID leadership and network site investigators makes conduct of Phase II trial of new antimicrobials in the ADVANCE-ID network highly feasible. This is also emphasised by a current large phase IV RCT being conducted by ADVANCE-ID, sponsored by the National University of Singapore, and supported by bioMerieux and Pfizer. This proposal outlines preparatory activities and then conduct of a Phase II trial to be led by ADVANCE-ID with an industry partner (likely one which has received support for pre-clinical development from CARB-X) and with assistance from a CRO. ADVANCE-ID will have a dominant role in protocol preparation, site identification, site training and liaison, medical support and study analysis.

Vector-borne diseases, mostly mosquito-borne, account for >17% of all infectious diseases of humans. Disease caused by ARthropod-BOrne viruses (arboviruses, e.g. dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses) continue to escalate, the burden falling overwhelmingly on Low-and-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) and likely exacerbated by climate change affecting mosquito distribution. These ‘neglected tropical diseases’ impact development, e.g. Millennium Development Goals, as well as their direct human burden. Arboviruses are also among the key emerging infectious diseases/priority diseases of epidemic potential. New cost-effective, sustainable, environmentally-friendly methods for controlling arboviruses are sorely needed. Here we propose to develop broad-spectrum anti-viral traits in engineered mosquitoes. By “broad-spectrum” we mean active against multiple arboviruses, in contrast to the current state of the art for synthetic anti-viral (“reduced vector competence”) traits, RNAi-based systems which provide resistance only against specific viruses or virus strains. This is important for vectors such as Aedes aegypti, which can transmit a range of important viral pathogens. Such tools could be delivered to wild vector populations via mating between released modified mosquitoes and wild mosquitoes. These methods are egalitarian – everyone within the protected area is equally protected, irrespective of wealth, ethnicity, gender, education etc.