4 ms·

They don't mention this, but I believe this can cause extinction of mosquitoes within an area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_insect_technique https://e

They don't mention this, but I believe this can cause extinction of mosquitoes within an area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_insect_technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_insect_technique

coldpie 10y ago
I believe that is the goal. I'm all on board. I've heard about proposals like this for years and years. I'm thrilled someone is actually working to make this theory reality.
- djb_hackernews 10y ago
  It'd be sort of like removing all of the kelp from the worlds oceans. It'd have ripple effects on other species that we wouldn't want to negatively affect.
  - 24gttghh 10y ago
    I am quite sure there are plenty of other blood-sucking insects around that will fill the ecological niche left by mosquitoes rather quickly.
  - coldpie 10y ago
    This has been pretty extensively studied. There's always the possibility the science is wrong, but the consensus is there will be very small or no ecological impact[1]. It's certainly nothing like removing all the kelp from the oceans. Meanwhile roughly a million people die every year from mosquito-borne diseases and three quarters of a billion people get sick[2]. [1] http://debugproject.com/faqs/ http://debugproject.com/faqs/ [2] http://www.ebmedicine.net/topics.php?paction=showTopic&topic_id=405 http://www.ebmedicine.net/topics.php?paction=showTopic&topic...
  - willis77 10y ago
    People have studied this. While you have to take these theoretical "what if" studies with a grain of salt, some believe that eradicating mosquitos would not affect ecology in a major way: http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100721/full/466432a.html http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100721/full/466432a.html
    - djb_hackernews 10y ago
      I'm now at negative points for bringing up a point that is validated by quoted experts in your cited source. (Which btw, uses a lot of "cover my ass" wording when talking about wiping out a species found all over the globe) I've gotten malaria on a trip to west Africa, I've had to get yellow fever vaccines, i grew up in areas with west nile, etc I understand the impact it has on humans. However, there is more to the mosquito than the little insect flying around biting us. Their eggs and larvae play a huge role in the ecosystems they inhabit.
      - coldpie 10y ago
        > I'm now at negative points for bringing up a point that is validated by quoted experts in your cited source. I think it's hard to justify drawing an equivalence between exterminating mosquitoes, which scientists have studied and broadly believe to be safe, and removing most of the plant matter from the oceans. I would not have downvoted you, but it's not hard to understand how you ended up there.
  - tdb7893 10y ago
    To be fair animals have gone extinct before without huge environmental impact so it's not so simple.
  - zaroth 10y ago
    I thought the same thing. Then I read that there are several thousand different species of mosquito, and only about 6 of them bite humans. We are not eradicating the mosquito, rather a very specific sub population; Aedes aegypti. They are in fact the deadliest animal on the planet and unequivocally deserve complete eradication.

coldpie 10y ago

I believe that is the goal. I'm all on board. I've heard about proposals like this for years and years. I'm thrilled someone is actually working to make this theory reality.

djb_hackernews 10y ago
It'd be sort of like removing all of the kelp from the worlds oceans. It'd have ripple effects on other species that we wouldn't want to negatively affect.
- 24gttghh 10y ago
  I am quite sure there are plenty of other blood-sucking insects around that will fill the ecological niche left by mosquitoes rather quickly.
- coldpie 10y ago
  This has been pretty extensively studied. There's always the possibility the science is wrong, but the consensus is there will be very small or no ecological impact[1]. It's certainly nothing like removing all the kelp from the oceans. Meanwhile roughly a million people die every year from mosquito-borne diseases and three quarters of a billion people get sick[2]. [1] http://debugproject.com/faqs/ http://debugproject.com/faqs/ [2] http://www.ebmedicine.net/topics.php?paction=showTopic&topic_id=405 http://www.ebmedicine.net/topics.php?paction=showTopic&topic...
- willis77 10y ago
  People have studied this. While you have to take these theoretical "what if" studies with a grain of salt, some believe that eradicating mosquitos would not affect ecology in a major way: http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100721/full/466432a.html http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100721/full/466432a.html
  - djb_hackernews 10y ago
    I'm now at negative points for bringing up a point that is validated by quoted experts in your cited source. (Which btw, uses a lot of "cover my ass" wording when talking about wiping out a species found all over the globe) I've gotten malaria on a trip to west Africa, I've had to get yellow fever vaccines, i grew up in areas with west nile, etc I understand the impact it has on humans. However, there is more to the mosquito than the little insect flying around biting us. Their eggs and larvae play a huge role in the ecosystems they inhabit.
    - coldpie 10y ago
      > I'm now at negative points for bringing up a point that is validated by quoted experts in your cited source. I think it's hard to justify drawing an equivalence between exterminating mosquitoes, which scientists have studied and broadly believe to be safe, and removing most of the plant matter from the oceans. I would not have downvoted you, but it's not hard to understand how you ended up there.
- tdb7893 10y ago
  To be fair animals have gone extinct before without huge environmental impact so it's not so simple.
- zaroth 10y ago
  I thought the same thing. Then I read that there are several thousand different species of mosquito, and only about 6 of them bite humans. We are not eradicating the mosquito, rather a very specific sub population; Aedes aegypti. They are in fact the deadliest animal on the planet and unequivocally deserve complete eradication.