We were going to release something like this in California but environmental groups killed it.
I've been having some success with "mosquito dunks" in buckets here in Los Angeles but unless the neighbors do it to we still get bit
mullingitover 5 hours ago [-]
LA has a project where sterile male mosquitos are released[1]. Females only mate once, so this absolutely wrecks mosquito populations. It's the same strategy that keep screwworms contained at the Darrien Gap.
This is by far the safer way to do these things. You never know what's going to happen when you Geneer a completely new organism and then release it into the wild.
notfed 5 hours ago [-]
Why did they kill it? Were risks identified independent of eliminating mosquitoes, or was it killed due to perceived causal effects of eliminating mosquitoes?
ItCouldBeWorse 5 hours ago [-]
Because diseases have a tendency to recombine and jump hosts - it could become a human plague- similar to malaria..
Teever 5 hours ago [-]
From the link provided by user mullingitover:
> This initiative introduces X-ray sterilized male mosquitoes in target areas as part of a Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) pilot program
It is highly unlikely that x-ray sterilized male mosquitos would cause a human plague similar to malaria.
daveguy 4 hours ago [-]
That was a sibling comment of the GP (sterilized mosquitos), the article itself is about a genetically engineered disease.
The article has mosquitos "releasing toxic proteins in their semen". Seems like the sterilization is a much better option. "We promise it's not toxic to humans" didn't turn out so well for RoundUp.
frollogaston 6 hours ago [-]
Maybe if they do it in neighboring states, some of the mosquitos will fly over the border.
tonyedgecombe 5 hours ago [-]
Not if we build a wall, how high can mosquitoes fly?
chasil 7 hours ago [-]
"Recently, mosquitoes and mosquito-borne parasites have developed resistance to chemical treatments and antimalarial drugs."
This seems similar to phage therapy, in that the treatment continues to evolve along with the target.
The treatment in the above article is a fungus. "Despite being lethal to mosquitoes, the transgenic Metarhizium fungus is harmless in humans."
Funny that you mention phage therapy as the first person to implement desease-based pest control for bugs was Félix d'Hérelle, better known for having invented phage therapy a few years later.
His biography is definitely worth reading as his life was entertaining to say the least.
chasil 1 hours ago [-]
I upvoted you, and I think that was quite interesting.
pazimzadeh 5 hours ago [-]
I worked in Raymond St. Leger’s lab for a short time in college. I can pass along any questions you have, and will send him the link to this discussion.
davidhyde 1 hours ago [-]
> “ Unlike pesticides or other chemical control methods that mosquitoes can develop resistance to, this method uses the mosquitoes’ own biology to deliver the control agent.”
I don’t understand why mosquitos can develop resistance to chemicals but not a fungal infection, regardless of the delivery method. Can Raymond shed some light on this?
hyencomper 1 hours ago [-]
Great work! Does this method have any distinct advantages over infecting mosquitos with Wolbachia? Thank you.
moffkalast 5 hours ago [-]
Tell them to keep up the good work. The only good mosquito is a dead mosquito! I'm doing my part!
KennyBlanken 5 hours ago [-]
Except for all the living things that eat mosquitos, and which in turn get eaten by other things, or eat other pests besides mosquitos
autoexec 5 hours ago [-]
Is there any living thing that eats mosquitos and nothing else? There seems to be no shortage of other tiny flying insects in the world for critters to munch on.
bobbylarrybobby 4 hours ago [-]
“Is there any living person that eats rice and nothing else? There seems to be no shortage of other grains in the world for humans to munch on.”
Obviously then, eliminating rice would have catastrophic consequences.
moffkalast 5 hours ago [-]
They can eat something else, we can make them mosquito shaped dietary supplements if they want.
We've driven almost a thousand species to extinction so far, we ought to finally do one that actually deserves it.
littlestymaar 4 hours ago [-]
Mosquitoes aren't “one specie” though, but rather several thousands.
Also, most of their lives is spent as aquatic larvae, not flying pests.
ChrisMarshallNY 5 hours ago [-]
> “It’s essentially an arms race between the mosquitoes and us," says St. Leger. "Just as they keep adapting to what we create, we have to continuously develop new and creative ways to fight them,”
I just had a vision of Jeff Goldblum muttering something...
User23 7 hours ago [-]
Next do ticks.
rickydroll 7 hours ago [-]
Yes, do ticks like the Asian Longhorn tick. Nasty little fuckers.
DrNosferatu 40 minutes ago [-]
What could possibly go wrong?
thesnide 20 minutes ago [-]
Nature always finds a way.
mont_tag 2 hours ago [-]
> Scientists genetically engineer a lethal mosquito STD to combat malaria
Nothing could possibly go wrong.
recursivedoubts 6 hours ago [-]
"when wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death"
Shellban 7 hours ago [-]
[dead]
josefritzishere 6 hours ago [-]
[flagged]
kypro 5 hours ago [-]
Nothing? This helps us in many ways... One way it helps is to kill Mosquitoes, but this technology could be used in all kinds of ways... For example, this STD is targeted to Mosquitoes and designed to be lethal, but you could use the same technology to target other species/populations perhaps to kill or to inflect various other ailments on them.
This is the same anti-progress view that cause people oppose things like gain-a-function research. Just because something can be used for various bad things, doesn't mean there aren't a few good things the technology can unlock if we want to use them in that way.
Retric 6 hours ago [-]
Nothing? As in it isn’t used or doesn’t work.
Leading questions don’t actually mean something is problematic.
5 hours ago [-]
freitasm 7 hours ago [-]
[flagged]
Gasp0de 7 hours ago [-]
It is a fungus that is harmless for humans, so I assume not that much. Of course it is always dangerous to artificially mess with an ecosystem. It has backfired more often than it has worked as intended when humans did that.
5 hours ago [-]
5 hours ago [-]
Retric 5 hours ago [-]
Most of the time it’s been extremely successful when we mess with ecosystems.
We just call it farming, cities, etc.
ninetyninenine 6 hours ago [-]
[flagged]
chasil 7 hours ago [-]
There is a Kurzgesagt article on the human virome that may provide some background.
I've been having some success with "mosquito dunks" in buckets here in Los Angeles but unless the neighbors do it to we still get bit
[1] https://www.glamosquito.org/2024-04-12-innovative-pilot-prog...
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2025/05/screwwor...
> This initiative introduces X-ray sterilized male mosquitoes in target areas as part of a Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) pilot program
It is highly unlikely that x-ray sterilized male mosquitos would cause a human plague similar to malaria.
The article has mosquitos "releasing toxic proteins in their semen". Seems like the sterilization is a much better option. "We promise it's not toxic to humans" didn't turn out so well for RoundUp.
This seems similar to phage therapy, in that the treatment continues to evolve along with the target.
The treatment in the above article is a fungus. "Despite being lethal to mosquitoes, the transgenic Metarhizium fungus is harmless in humans."
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2104592118
His biography is definitely worth reading as his life was entertaining to say the least.
I don’t understand why mosquitos can develop resistance to chemicals but not a fungal infection, regardless of the delivery method. Can Raymond shed some light on this?
Obviously then, eliminating rice would have catastrophic consequences.
We've driven almost a thousand species to extinction so far, we ought to finally do one that actually deserves it.
Also, most of their lives is spent as aquatic larvae, not flying pests.
I just had a vision of Jeff Goldblum muttering something...
Nothing could possibly go wrong.
This is the same anti-progress view that cause people oppose things like gain-a-function research. Just because something can be used for various bad things, doesn't mean there aren't a few good things the technology can unlock if we want to use them in that way.
Leading questions don’t actually mean something is problematic.
We just call it farming, cities, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbvAaDN1bpE