Polygenic scores for genomic surveillance of insecticide resistance in malaria control

Recent increases in the global malaria disease burden are thought to be due, in part, to an increase in insecticide resistance, which reduces the efficacy of primary control methods, such as long-lasting insecticide nets and indoor residual spraying. However, quantifying the impact of insecticide resistance on vector control tools before intervention failure is hampered by the insensitivity of phenotyping approaches. In this opinion article, we discuss how genomic approaches can be used to accurately characterise patterns of insecticide resistance and may be used to provide an estimate of the impacts of resistance, which is a prerequisite for evidence-based vector control.