Sustainable and effective control of dengue is hampered due to a number of factors, including the lack of evidencebased, locally relevant interventions; insufficient information regarding key components of virus transmission and vector ecology; failure to implement precise and efficient surveillance systems; inefficient healthcare systems; ineffective health promotion and outreach resulting in lack of community dialogue and participation; and a paucity of efficient diagnostic strategies and clinical attention [1]. Increased research efforts in response to the complexity of this problem have focused on the development of novel technologies that would enhance existing tools for vector-borne disease prevention [2–4]. Genetic strategies to reduce or replace mosquito populations and thereby interrupt transmission of dengue viruses are among the new approaches being considered [5–7]. Many of these approaches take advantage of molecular genetic tools to engineer traits that cause lethal phenotypes or confer resistance to the pathogen in the mosquito.

Genetic strategies are being advanced through a series of overlapping domains that inform the decision making on feasibility, safety, efficacy, and acceptability. Although the need to focus on sciencebased regulation using a risk-assessment framework is gaining support [8], there has been a relative lack of attention on broader community regulations that are explicitly or indirectly required to bring a genetics-based product to the field [3, 9–11]. An evidence-based approach would facilitate the integration, efficacy, and acceptability of policy for an intervention strategy.