5 ms·

Okay, so it might be a good thing if we rid the world of mosquitoes. Could we even do that? How?

Lord_Zero 12y ago
A good start would be some injection or orally taken medication that causes mosquitoes to die after they feed on us.
DanBC 12y ago
There are limited mosquito species that carry malaria, and only the females bite humans. Those insects have specific wing-beat frequencies and a limited range of sizes. So it's possible to build "photonic fences" - sets of detectors to detect those specific mosquitos and then shoot them with a laser. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser If you make these cheap enough amd deploy them widely enough you'd cut down on the problem populations.
- martey 12y ago
  Since the "photonic fence" was developed by known patent troll Intellectual Ventures in 2009 and does not seem to have been ever deployed outside of their labs, the cynic in me thinks that it was only created to boost their PR efforts (there were dozens of articles at the time about how the laser system would eliminate malaria) and possibly increase their patent portfolio. https://www.google.com/patents/US20100186284 https://www.google.com/patents/US20100186284 http://www.malariaworld.org/blog/will-laser-technology-rid-africa-malaria http://www.malariaworld.org/blog/will-laser-technology-rid-a... https://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20120903/07334520256/forget-death-star-anti-mosquito-lasers-heres-how-nathan-myhrvold-can-help-tackle-malaria-improve-his-image.shtml https://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20120903/0...
ianbicking 12y ago
There's some good work being done: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_insect_technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_insect_technique – the current trials happening work by genetically engineer mosquitoes so they can't produce a certain protein that is important at the larval stage. They raise a bunch of mosquitoes, giving them the necessary protein (that they can't find in the wild), then sort out only the male mosquitoes, and release them in large numbers. The GM male mosquitoes overwhelm the normal mosquitoes in the area, but all their offspring will die. Seems like the big trials are all happening in Brazil (e.g., http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25457-brazil-approves-use-of-genetically-modified-mosquitoes.html http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25457-brazil-approves-...) It's done on a per-species basis of course, and they are targeting only the mosquitoes that spread disease. The worst species are often invasive species anyway, and aren't the only blood-sucking mosquito in these areas. So while it's a tool that could potentially be used to eliminate mosquitoes generally, that's not how it is being used now.

A good start would be some injection or orally taken medication that causes mosquitoes to die after they feed on us.

DanBC 12y ago

There are limited mosquito species that carry malaria, and only the females bite humans. Those insects have specific wing-beat frequencies and a limited range of sizes. So it's possible to build "photonic fences" - sets of detectors to detect those specific mosquitos and then shoot them with a laser. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser If you make these cheap enough amd deploy them widely enough you'd cut down on the problem populations.

martey 12y ago
Since the "photonic fence" was developed by known patent troll Intellectual Ventures in 2009 and does not seem to have been ever deployed outside of their labs, the cynic in me thinks that it was only created to boost their PR efforts (there were dozens of articles at the time about how the laser system would eliminate malaria) and possibly increase their patent portfolio. https://www.google.com/patents/US20100186284 https://www.google.com/patents/US20100186284 http://www.malariaworld.org/blog/will-laser-technology-rid-africa-malaria http://www.malariaworld.org/blog/will-laser-technology-rid-a... https://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20120903/07334520256/forget-death-star-anti-mosquito-lasers-heres-how-nathan-myhrvold-can-help-tackle-malaria-improve-his-image.shtml https://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20120903/0...

ianbicking 12y ago

There's some good work being done: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_insect_technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_insect_technique – the current trials happening work by genetically engineer mosquitoes so they can't produce a certain protein that is important at the larval stage. They raise a bunch of mosquitoes, giving them the necessary protein (that they can't find in the wild), then sort out only the male mosquitoes, and release them in large numbers. The GM male mosquitoes overwhelm the normal mosquitoes in the area, but all their offspring will die. Seems like the big trials are all happening in Brazil (e.g., http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25457-brazil-approves-use-of-genetically-modified-mosquitoes.html http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25457-brazil-approves-...) It's done on a per-species basis of course, and they are targeting only the mosquitoes that spread disease. The worst species are often invasive species anyway, and aren't the only blood-sucking mosquito in these areas. So while it's a tool that could potentially be used to eliminate mosquitoes generally, that's not how it is being used now.