Infection, Genetics and Evolution

Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases constitute one of the main challenges to medical science in the coming century. The exponential growth of genetic studies over the last 20 years has greatly increased our knowledge of the transmission and pathogenicity of infectious and parasitic diseases. Within the field of human genetics, research has shown that susceptibility to many infectious diseases (including leprosy, tuberculosis, malaria and schistosomiais) has a genetic basis. Furthermore, much is now known on the molecular epidemiology and virulence of pathogenic agents, as well as their resistance to drugs, vaccines, and antibiotics. Such progress has been made despite the formal and evolutionary genetics of many pathogenic agents remaining obscure. Equally, research on the genetics of disease vectors has greatly improved our understanding of their systematics, has increased our capacity to identify target populations for control or intervention, and has provided detailed information on the mechanisms of insecticide resistance. However, the genetics of hosts, pathogens and vectors have tended to develop as three separate fields of research. This artificial compartmentalisation is of concern due to our growing appreciation of the strong coevolutionary interactions among hosts, pathogens and vectors. It is therefore highly desirable to develop a unified synthetic approach: the "Integrated Genetic Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases" (IGEID). This will involve evaluation of the respective impact of genetic diversity of hosts, pathogens and vectors on the transmission and severity of infectious diseases, as well as their coevolutionary interactions. Infection, Genetics and Evolution - the Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics in Infectious Diseases (MEEGID) - aims to be the forum for developing this IGEID approach. The journal welcomes articles dealing with the genetics of hosts, pathogens and vectors in relation to infection and disease manifestation; preference will be given to papers considering at least two of these interacting factors.