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That's a really unhealthy mentality. There are aprox 3500 species of mosquitoes, out of which about 100 draw human blood. And first of all it's probably really

That's a really unhealthy mentality. There are aprox 3500 species of mosquitoes, out of which about 100 draw human blood. And first of all it's probably really hard to target just specific species. And if the solution is chemical or some sort of virus, then how do you know it won't spread to other insects? Mosquitoes are pollinators, also being a food source for birds and fish. If mosquitoes vanish, you could end up with an ecological disaster, remember that we've been exterminating bees as well. But OK, mother nature can still cope with a species vanishing, but this means another insect will probably fill the vacuum left by exterminating mosquitoes. How do you know that the insect taking the place of mosquitoes won't be much worse? You know, nature has a strange habit of fucking up our plans. It's also important to remember that life on earth is 3.5 billion years old and we are fucking it up, destabilizing it in just a couple hundred. And "just fucking do it" is not science.

saiya-jin 10y ago
I presume seeing somebody very close dying from dengue/cerebral malaria/etc would change your perspective of "this ain't science". But that won't happen to many in 1st world countries, would it. Few millions of poor dying somewhere far away ain't that much of a hot issue to you? mankind wants to eradicate all diseases for example. don't you think that they also have their role in the food chain, albeit probably more on the single cellular scale? why not protect those? It's us vs them, due to global warming they are spreading to new places all the time. nobody is talking about removing all mosquitoes from the face of the earth, just those 100 you mentioned. Will there be some mess and consequences from it? of course, there are always consequences, even if you fart in the wind. considering the clusterfk we are heading to in terms of destroying the nature, this is peanuts with very real positive and immediate results to poorest and weakest of this world. count me in.
- Tannic 10y ago
  Consider that one reason mosquitoes are a problem is that humans are wiping out their ecosystems, including things that eat them. The best thing we could do would be to enhance predator habitat so the animals that have evolved to hunt them over millions of years are allowed to do that.
- bad_user 10y ago
  I had my grandfather dying from a bacterial infection developed while hospitalized, not responding well to antibiotics. I know how that feels. Having close people die does change our perception, but science requires objectivity and a move like this requires careful planning, as you have to admit, we aren't known for making the best choices in healthcare. And an ecological disaster probably won't happen, but lets consider that it does for the sake of argument, having as result a much lower yield for the crops in Africa or the rest of the world for a while. It's not impossible and the world's supply of food is actually very fragile. So you save millions from the spread of viruses, but then starve them to death. I'm not against killing all mosquitoes, I'm just against doing it without thoroughly researching the effects and having a prepared contingency plan.
- ConfuciusSay02 10y ago
  I presume seeing somebody very close dying from an unintended consequence of such an attempted eradication would change your perspective.
maxerickson 10y ago
There have been active, species targeted field trials: http://www.oxitec.com/faqs/ http://www.oxitec.com/faqs/ So just fucking do it is gaining some traction.

saiya-jin 10y ago

I presume seeing somebody very close dying from dengue/cerebral malaria/etc would change your perspective of "this ain't science". But that won't happen to many in 1st world countries, would it. Few millions of poor dying somewhere far away ain't that much of a hot issue to you? mankind wants to eradicate all diseases for example. don't you think that they also have their role in the food chain, albeit probably more on the single cellular scale? why not protect those? It's us vs them, due to global warming they are spreading to new places all the time. nobody is talking about removing all mosquitoes from the face of the earth, just those 100 you mentioned. Will there be some mess and consequences from it? of course, there are always consequences, even if you fart in the wind. considering the clusterfk we are heading to in terms of destroying the nature, this is peanuts with very real positive and immediate results to poorest and weakest of this world. count me in.

Tannic 10y ago
Consider that one reason mosquitoes are a problem is that humans are wiping out their ecosystems, including things that eat them. The best thing we could do would be to enhance predator habitat so the animals that have evolved to hunt them over millions of years are allowed to do that.
bad_user 10y ago
I had my grandfather dying from a bacterial infection developed while hospitalized, not responding well to antibiotics. I know how that feels. Having close people die does change our perception, but science requires objectivity and a move like this requires careful planning, as you have to admit, we aren't known for making the best choices in healthcare. And an ecological disaster probably won't happen, but lets consider that it does for the sake of argument, having as result a much lower yield for the crops in Africa or the rest of the world for a while. It's not impossible and the world's supply of food is actually very fragile. So you save millions from the spread of viruses, but then starve them to death. I'm not against killing all mosquitoes, I'm just against doing it without thoroughly researching the effects and having a prepared contingency plan.
ConfuciusSay02 10y ago
I presume seeing somebody very close dying from an unintended consequence of such an attempted eradication would change your perspective.

maxerickson 10y ago

There have been active, species targeted field trials: http://www.oxitec.com/faqs/ http://www.oxitec.com/faqs/ So just fucking do it is gaining some traction.