Scientists genetically engineer a lethal mosquito STD to combat malaria
37 comments
·June 16, 2025rcpt
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
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.
[1] https://www.glamosquito.org/2024-04-12-innovative-pilot-prog...
notfed
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
Because diseases have a tendency to recombine and jump hosts - it could become a human plague- similar to malaria..
Teever
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.
frollogaston
Maybe if they do it in neighboring states, some of the mosquitos will fly over the border.
tonyedgecombe
Not if we build a wall, how high can mosquitoes fly?
chasil
"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."
littlestymaar
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.
pazimzadeh
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.
moffkalast
Tell them to keep up the good work. The only good mosquito is a dead mosquito! I'm doing my part!
KennyBlanken
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
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.
moffkalast
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.
ChrisMarshallNY
> “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...
recursivedoubts
"when wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death"
Shellban
[dead]
josefritzishere
[flagged]
kypro
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.
freitasm
[flagged]
Gasp0de
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.
Retric
Most of the time it’s been extremely successful when we mess with ecosystems.
We just call it farming, cities, etc.
ninetyninenine
[flagged]
chasil
There is a Kurzgesagt article on the human virome that may provide some background.
wedn3sday
Might be a good time to stop having sex with mosquitos.
frollogaston
Can't have sex with mosquitos, but they do stick a needle into your blood
chrisjj
[flagged]
> Scientists genetically engineer a lethal mosquito STD to combat malaria
Nothing could possibly go wrong.