30 ms·

Bill Gates has dozens of projects combating mosquitoes, at least one of which is intended to replace them with non-carrying mosquitoes. That’s what happens in

Bill Gates has dozens of projects combating mosquitoes, at least one of which is intended to replace them with non-carrying mosquitoes. That’s what happens in America when we freak out now, one of the billionaires fixes it.

fragmede 3y ago
In 2009, Bill Gates gave TEDTalk in which he released mosquitoes to make a point about malaria.
khaomungai 3y ago
Read about Oxitec[1] a while ago and found their approach quite interesting! [1]https://www.oxitec.com/ https://www.oxitec.com/
- objektif 3y ago
  This looks promising. How effective has it been in reality?
  - mattmaroon 3y ago
    It’s early. Studies in Brazil show up to 90% reduction (Oxitec’s numbers) and they’re just now going into their third season of testing in the Florida keys, working with the EPA. They say the results are good, and I assume they must be if the government is letting them expand the trials. I think we’ll have hard numbers soon. I’ve been following this for years just out of curiosity. It’s a brilliant solution and a brilliant business model. Because the genetic alteration kills the mosquitoes, you have to keep buying them from the company. It both makes it so that there’s seemingly little risk to the environment and subscription revenue.
    - objektif 3y ago
      That’s great. If we can drive disease carrying ones to extinction why do we need to keep buying this?
      - mattmaroon 3y ago
        You probably can't drive them to extinction this way. The introduced mosquitoes only help within a small range (~400m I think) of where they put the little devices they come from, because that particular mosquito doesn't travel far from where it's born. And even within that range, a 95% reduction is great, but the year you stop, that 5% will just start doing whatever they did before and a couple years later you'll be back to where you were beforehand.Insect populations grow exponentially.

fragmede 3y ago

In 2009, Bill Gates gave TEDTalk in which he released mosquitoes to make a point about malaria.

khaomungai 3y ago

Read about Oxitec[1] a while ago and found their approach quite interesting! [1]https://www.oxitec.com/ https://www.oxitec.com/

objektif 3y ago
This looks promising. How effective has it been in reality?
- mattmaroon 3y ago
  It’s early. Studies in Brazil show up to 90% reduction (Oxitec’s numbers) and they’re just now going into their third season of testing in the Florida keys, working with the EPA. They say the results are good, and I assume they must be if the government is letting them expand the trials. I think we’ll have hard numbers soon. I’ve been following this for years just out of curiosity. It’s a brilliant solution and a brilliant business model. Because the genetic alteration kills the mosquitoes, you have to keep buying them from the company. It both makes it so that there’s seemingly little risk to the environment and subscription revenue.
  - objektif 3y ago
    That’s great. If we can drive disease carrying ones to extinction why do we need to keep buying this?
    - mattmaroon 3y ago
      You probably can't drive them to extinction this way. The introduced mosquitoes only help within a small range (~400m I think) of where they put the little devices they come from, because that particular mosquito doesn't travel far from where it's born. And even within that range, a 95% reduction is great, but the year you stop, that 5% will just start doing whatever they did before and a couple years later you'll be back to where you were beforehand.Insect populations grow exponentially.