Prospects for standardized assays in vector biology

The benefits of technological advances continue to accrue at an ever accelerating rate. In 1987 I presented a brief review of recent advances and applications of biotechnology to the study of arthropods and disease-vector relationships. Since 1987 progress has been made in practically all areas included in that earlier review and I want to give brief mention of just a few significant advances that have appeared in print since that time. An obvious spin-off of modern technology has been the production of continually improved tools to aid in species identification. This is true for the arthropods as well as for pathogenic organisms transmitted by arthropods. Consequently, we can now approach the problems presented by species complexes with an array of techniques, and we find that we are limited only by our access to the necessary reagents, grasp of the technology and funding. Likewise, in studies of arthropod-pathogen relationships, many new tools have been developed for detection of pathogens in the vectors and these tools are applicable to field and laboratory investigations into the many issues of vector competence.