Structure of the Scientific Community Modelling the Evolution of Resistance

Faced with the recurrent evolution of resistance to pesticides and drugs, the scientific community has developed theoretical models aimed at identifying the main factors of this evolution and predicting the efficiency of resistance management strategies. The evolutionary forces considered by these models are generally similar for viruses, bacteria, fungi, plants or arthropods facing drugs or pesticides, so interaction between scientists working on different biological organisms would be expected. We tested this by analysing co-authorship and co-citation networks using a database of 187 articles published from 1977 to 2006 concerning models of resistance evolution to all major classes of pesticides and drugs. These analyses identified two main groups. One group, led by ecologists or agronomists, is interested in agricultural crop or stock pests and diseases. It mainly uses a population genetics approach to model the evolution of resistance to insecticidal proteins, insecticides, herbicides, antihelminthic drugs and miticides. By contrast, the other group, led by medical scientists, is interested in human parasites and mostly uses epidemiological models to study the evolution of resistance to antibiotic and antiviral drugs. Our analyses suggested that there is also a small scientific group focusing on resistance to antimalaria drugs, and which is only poorly connected with the two larger groups. The analysis of cited references indicates that each of the two large communities publishes its research in a different set of literature and has its own keystone references: citations with a large impact in one group are almost never cited by the other. We fear the lack of exchange between the two communities might slow progress concerning resistance evolution which is currently a major issue for society.面对杀虫剂与药物抗性反复演化的现状，科学界已构建理论模型，旨在明确该演化过程的核心驱动因素，并预测抗性管理策略的实施效果。此类模型所考量的演化动力，对于受药物或农药胁迫的病毒、细菌、真菌、植物及节肢动物而言大体相似，因此预计不同研究对象生物类群的科研人员之间应存在学术互动。本研究基于1977年至2006年间发表的187篇文献构建数据库，通过分析合著与共引网络，对上述假设进行了验证；这些文献均围绕各类主要农药与药物的抗性演化模型展开。分析结果识别出两个主要研究群体：其一由生态学家或农学家主导，聚焦于农作物与畜禽的病虫害问题，主要采用种群遗传学（population genetics）方法，针对杀虫蛋白、杀虫剂、除草剂、抗蠕虫药及杀螨剂的抗性演化构建模型。与之相对的另一群体则由医学科研人员主导，关注人体寄生虫相关研究，大多采用流行病学（epidemiological）模型，探究抗生素与抗病毒药物的抗性演化机制。分析结果还显示，存在一个规模较小的研究群体，专注于抗疟药物（antimalaria drugs）的抗性研究，且该群体与上述两个较大群体的学术关联度极低。对引用文献的分析表明，这两个大型研究群体各自在不同的学术文献体系中发表研究成果，且拥有各自的核心参考文献：在某一群体中影响力较大的引用文献，几乎不会被另一群体引用。我们担忧，两个群体间的学术交流匮乏可能会延缓抗性演化相关研究的进展——而该议题当前已是社会面临的重大问题之一。