By Bob Larson
The mosquito is the most dangerous predator in the world, carrying diseases that kill over one million people a year. Besides mosquito carrying diseases like malaria, west nile virus, dengue fever and yellow fever, now the Zika virus causes newborn babies with brain defects and short life spans in North and South America. The ethical question is should we eliminate this insect to save humanity?
There are 3,500 known species of mosquito but most of those don’t bother humans at all. It’s only the females from 6% of species that carry parasites that cause human diseases. But the impact of these 100 species is devastating.
“Half of the global population is at risk of a mosquito-borne disease,” says Frances Hawkes from the University of Greenwich. “They have had an untold impact on human misery.”
There are three successful methods to eradicate mosquitoes. Insecticides are 90% effective, but have to be used often and often have side effects on the human and animal population. Another method uses genetic engineering and makes the mosquitoes sterile, thus eliminating the mosquito. However, we may upset the overall environment because many mosquitoes pollinate our valuable plants for human food consumption much like bees do and also is a food source for many birds and fish.
The last method makes mosquitoes resistant to the parasites that cause the diseases. In Australia, they are using bacteria to reduce the ability of mosquitoes to pass dengue fever between people. Scientists in the U.S. have created a new gene that makes mosquitoes resistant to the malaria parasite.
This method saves the eradication of mosquitoes, but hopefully controls them effectively without causing side effects. Technology can help solve these problems if used wisely.
~ Bob Larson is a technologist, photo-journalist, and our Marketing Director for 50 Plus.