Considering all the damage we do to eco systems and how little concern many governments have for the environment how come we are so concerned about potential consequences of fighting mosquitoes with genetically modified bacteria and similiar strategies?
Only a few species are dangerous to humans and none of them are keystone species in their ecosystems so why not just erradicate them?
In: Biology
We are doing.
There are quite a few programs focused on releasing sterile male mosquitoes to reduce their population and control the spread of diseases. You can read about how it’s done here: https://www.cdc.gov/mosquitoes/mosquito-control/irradiated-mosquitoes.html#:~:text=Male%20mosquitoes%20are%20bred%20and,dengue%2C%20Zika%2C%20and%20chikungunya.
the TD:DR is that you irradiate the males using the same radiation we use in X-rays. You then release those mosquitoes, since males don’t bite you can release as many as you want, who mate and cause the females to lay unfertilised eggs, reducing the number of mosquitoes in the area.
But, we can’t eridicate them, because it’s just too expensive to do so and extremely difficult. Much easier to focusing on keeping their numbers low in response to disease outbreaks than it is to try and eliminate them. Plus, while they’re not lynch pins of their ecosystems, they are still a food source for many other animals.
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