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Focusing on practical approaches seems to yield most beneficial results. I have had very good experiences in tropical climates with window screening, mosquito

Focusing on practical approaches seems to yield most beneficial results. I have had very good experiences in tropical climates with window screening, mosquito nets, bio-compatible repellents, traps, zappers, and would like to find more good tools.

fiatjaf 11y ago
Yes!
danieltillett 11y ago
Not to be harsh did you read the article I linked to? Basically it shows us how we can wipe out all mosquitos for good without any pesticides or on going costs (it is a one-and-done approach). A world with no mosquito borne disease sounds like a pretty good idea to me. To head off the ecological discussion about using this technology, mosquitos that carry human disease play no important ecological role and if every single one disappeared tomorrow the only consequence would be millions of people would stop dying. Over 700 million people a year get a mosquito borne disease and over a million die [1]. To stop this I would gladly sacrifice every mosquito. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito-borne_disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito-borne_disease
- mitchtbaum 11y ago
  I have yet to study if these pests have any benefit, so I can only speak from experience. I dislike them intensely. Since you mentioned a possible solution, I checked to see how well it could do in terms of simplicity, effectiveness, and efficiency. From what I could tell, it would require an impractical[0,1,2] approach; and since I live among mosquitoes, I need to guard against illnesses like these. 0: overly-complex · genetic re-engineering of a wild species 1: ineffective · look at other attempts to control Nature through domination (usually, they backfire) 2: inefficient · I can barely imagine a technology we could manufacture that could do this simultaneoulsy in every affected area where humans and mosquitos live... even then, see again my point on ineffective
  - danieltillett 11y ago
    In regards your three points 0. CRISPR-Cas9 is an amazing simple system that has worked in every species tested. It really is not an issue to generate gene drivers for every species we want to go after. 1. How do you know it is ineffective? Do you understand how a gene driver system works? Arguments against attempting to control nature are rather weak - modern life is a successful attempt to control nature. 2. This is the genius of gene drivers. You let them go and they do all the work for you. We only have to release the driver into the mosquito population and it will do everything from there on its own. This technology really is a massive game changer - we just have to be brave enough to use it.
    - mitchtbaum 11y ago
      > CRISPR-Cas9 is an amazing simple system that has worked in every species tested. But how could we put it into practice? I only saw gene-level mechanics in that article. Please show me a machine that could do this at scale. > modern life is a successful attempt to control nature How so? I imagine 2,400 mothers in Brazil might have another story.
      - danieltillett 11y ago
        >But how could we put it into practice? I only saw gene-level mechanics in that article. Please show me a machine that could do this at scale Figure 1C is what you need to look at. This is real mosquitoes, not genes. I think the problem is you don’t understand what a gene driver system is and how it works (it is complex genetics so there is no shame in this). The wiki article [1] is not great, but the original article that raised this idea is complex, but worth reading [2]. The problem was until now we didn’t have a good system to actually make these drivers, we do now. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_drive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_drive 2. http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/270/1518/921 http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/270/1518/921
        mitchtbaum 11y ago
        > The problem was until now we didn’t have a good system to actually make these drivers, we do now. Link? Again, please show me a machine that can operate at scale or even a simple demo with an inlet, a re-engineered mosquito, and an outlet. (preferably without insulting me)
- 2muchcoffeeman 11y ago
  http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100721/full/466432a.html http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100721/full/466432a.html Yet in many cases, scientists acknowledge that the ecological scar left by a missing mosquito would heal quickly as the niche was filled by other organisms. Life would continue as before — or even better. When it comes to the major disease vectors, "it's difficult to see what the downside would be to removal, except for collateral damage", says insect ecologist Steven Juliano, of Illinois State University in Normal.
  - danieltillett 11y ago
    The collateral damage they are talking about here is avoided human misery and death. This is one sort of collateral damage we can happily live with.
    - bluejekyll 11y ago
      I think they mean something more along the lines of Dragonflies. They love to eat mosquitoes and their larvae. Not that we shouldn't do it, I'm sure they can live off knats just as easily.
      - danieltillett 11y ago
        I am pretty sure they were talking about people. From the Nature article "The ecological effect of eliminating harmful mosquitoes is that you have more people. That's the consequence," says Strickman.
        rewqfdsa 11y ago
        There's a certain strain of environmentalist that sees deindustrialization, technological regression, and human population decline as the solution to the world's problem. This perspective misses the mark, I think.
        adrianN 11y ago
personlurking 11y ago
I'm from the Bay but lived all over Brazil during several years and never once saw window screens. Brazilians tell me they exist, though this goes against the very wide-array of living arrangements I had while there.
- mitchtbaum 11y ago
  What did you see them using? What do you mean by "very wide-array of living arrangements"?
  - personlurking 11y ago
    They didn't use anything, aside from sprays and the sometimes-seen electric tennis racket. Well, I have yet to find a Brazilian who has lived in as many places (in Brazil) as I have, either number of neighborhoods (15+) or cities (5). Also, I lived in many slums, in many middle class apartments, in a few upper-class places and even some hostels.
- saint_fiasco 11y ago
  The Aedes Aegypty mosquito feeds during the day, so window screens and mosquito nets won't help them anyway, unless they don't leave the house.
saint_fiasco 11y ago
One of the most annoying things about the Aedes Aegypty mosquito is that it feeds during the day. That means mosquito nets and window screening are not enough, and people have to use repellents all the time.

fiatjaf 11y ago

Yes!

danieltillett 11y ago

Not to be harsh did you read the article I linked to? Basically it shows us how we can wipe out all mosquitos for good without any pesticides or on going costs (it is a one-and-done approach). A world with no mosquito borne disease sounds like a pretty good idea to me. To head off the ecological discussion about using this technology, mosquitos that carry human disease play no important ecological role and if every single one disappeared tomorrow the only consequence would be millions of people would stop dying. Over 700 million people a year get a mosquito borne disease and over a million die [1]. To stop this I would gladly sacrifice every mosquito. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito-borne_disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito-borne_disease

mitchtbaum 11y ago
I have yet to study if these pests have any benefit, so I can only speak from experience. I dislike them intensely. Since you mentioned a possible solution, I checked to see how well it could do in terms of simplicity, effectiveness, and efficiency. From what I could tell, it would require an impractical[0,1,2] approach; and since I live among mosquitoes, I need to guard against illnesses like these. 0: overly-complex · genetic re-engineering of a wild species 1: ineffective · look at other attempts to control Nature through domination (usually, they backfire) 2: inefficient · I can barely imagine a technology we could manufacture that could do this simultaneoulsy in every affected area where humans and mosquitos live... even then, see again my point on ineffective
- danieltillett 11y ago
  In regards your three points 0. CRISPR-Cas9 is an amazing simple system that has worked in every species tested. It really is not an issue to generate gene drivers for every species we want to go after. 1. How do you know it is ineffective? Do you understand how a gene driver system works? Arguments against attempting to control nature are rather weak - modern life is a successful attempt to control nature. 2. This is the genius of gene drivers. You let them go and they do all the work for you. We only have to release the driver into the mosquito population and it will do everything from there on its own. This technology really is a massive game changer - we just have to be brave enough to use it.
  - mitchtbaum 11y ago
    > CRISPR-Cas9 is an amazing simple system that has worked in every species tested. But how could we put it into practice? I only saw gene-level mechanics in that article. Please show me a machine that could do this at scale. > modern life is a successful attempt to control nature How so? I imagine 2,400 mothers in Brazil might have another story.
    - danieltillett 11y ago
      >But how could we put it into practice? I only saw gene-level mechanics in that article. Please show me a machine that could do this at scale Figure 1C is what you need to look at. This is real mosquitoes, not genes. I think the problem is you don’t understand what a gene driver system is and how it works (it is complex genetics so there is no shame in this). The wiki article [1] is not great, but the original article that raised this idea is complex, but worth reading [2]. The problem was until now we didn’t have a good system to actually make these drivers, we do now. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_drive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_drive 2. http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/270/1518/921 http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/270/1518/921
      - mitchtbaum 11y ago
        > The problem was until now we didn’t have a good system to actually make these drivers, we do now. Link? Again, please show me a machine that can operate at scale or even a simple demo with an inlet, a re-engineered mosquito, and an outlet. (preferably without insulting me)
2muchcoffeeman 11y ago
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100721/full/466432a.html http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100721/full/466432a.html Yet in many cases, scientists acknowledge that the ecological scar left by a missing mosquito would heal quickly as the niche was filled by other organisms. Life would continue as before — or even better. When it comes to the major disease vectors, "it's difficult to see what the downside would be to removal, except for collateral damage", says insect ecologist Steven Juliano, of Illinois State University in Normal.
- danieltillett 11y ago
  The collateral damage they are talking about here is avoided human misery and death. This is one sort of collateral damage we can happily live with.
  - bluejekyll 11y ago
    I think they mean something more along the lines of Dragonflies. They love to eat mosquitoes and their larvae. Not that we shouldn't do it, I'm sure they can live off knats just as easily.
    - danieltillett 11y ago
      I am pretty sure they were talking about people. From the Nature article "The ecological effect of eliminating harmful mosquitoes is that you have more people. That's the consequence," says Strickman.
      - rewqfdsa 11y ago
        There's a certain strain of environmentalist that sees deindustrialization, technological regression, and human population decline as the solution to the world's problem. This perspective misses the mark, I think.
        adrianN 11y ago

personlurking 11y ago

I'm from the Bay but lived all over Brazil during several years and never once saw window screens. Brazilians tell me they exist, though this goes against the very wide-array of living arrangements I had while there.

mitchtbaum 11y ago
What did you see them using? What do you mean by "very wide-array of living arrangements"?
- personlurking 11y ago
  They didn't use anything, aside from sprays and the sometimes-seen electric tennis racket. Well, I have yet to find a Brazilian who has lived in as many places (in Brazil) as I have, either number of neighborhoods (15+) or cities (5). Also, I lived in many slums, in many middle class apartments, in a few upper-class places and even some hostels.
saint_fiasco 11y ago
The Aedes Aegypty mosquito feeds during the day, so window screens and mosquito nets won't help them anyway, unless they don't leave the house.

saint_fiasco 11y ago

One of the most annoying things about the Aedes Aegypty mosquito is that it feeds during the day. That means mosquito nets and window screening are not enough, and people have to use repellents all the time.