Should we wipe Mosquitos off the face of the earth?

[Mindful]

Even before the Zika virus, mosquitoes were the deadliest creatures on the planet. But gene modification means these blood suckers’ days might be numbered. Is it dangerous to talk about ‘editing nature’, or should we consider eradicating them for good?

Should we wipe mosquitoes off the face of the Earth?

 

[Mindful]

* When an Aedes aegypti mosquito bites you, she – because only the females, which need blood as nutrients for their offspring, bite – will probe your skin with her proboscis as many as 20 times. Two pairs of sharp cutting edges, the fascicle, break the skin and then search for a blood vessel, withdrawing and re-entering until a suitable target is found. When the blood starts to flow, a salivary tube delivers a protein that stops it clotting. The mosquito holds still and then begins to suck; in 90 seconds’ time, she feels full, and stops. And then, if you are in parts of South and Central America and bang out of luck, you will have Zika.

It’s a horrible idea, and one that will draw shudders from anyone who has ever been bitten by a mosquito – which is to say, just about everyone. In the entire animal kingdom, the mosquito occupies a special place as receptacle for our hatred and disgust. Even the great and generous EO Wilson, author of the touchstone argument for preserving biodiversity, The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth, makes an exception for anopheles gambiae, which spreads malaria in Africa. “Keep their DNA for future research,” he writes, “and let them go.”

When Wilson thus hardens his heart, he speaks for us all. Where we revere and anthropomorphise such brutal predators as sharks, tigers and bears, we view these tiny ectoparasites as worthless, an evolutionary accident with no redeeming or adorable characteristics. No one ever had a cuddly mosquito. Thanks to malaria, they have probably helped to kill more than half of all humans ever to have lived. Today, according to the Gates foundation, the diseases they carry kill about 725,000 people a year, 600,000 of them victims of malaria. They are, as such, the only creature responsible for the deaths of more humans than humans themselves; we only manage to kill about 475,000 a year. This deadly work is carried out all over the planet: mosquitoes are found on every continent except Antarctica. And now there is Zika, which can lead to microcephaly and its associated physical deformities in unborn children, and for which there is no vaccine. This new horror has prompted fresh attention to the vexed question of how to defeat them. And that consideration leads to an unsentimental thought that we would entertain about no other creature: can’t we wipe them off the face of the Earth?*

 

[Moonglow]

No, they are part of the ability to raise crops through cross pollination..

 

[Mindful]

No, they are part of the ability to raise crops through cross pollination..

Did you read the whole article?

They are also part of the food chain. For bats especially.

 

[HUGGY]

Even before the Zika virus, mosquitoes were the deadliest creatures on the planet. But gene modification means these blood suckers’ days might be numbered. Is it dangerous to talk about ‘editing nature’, or should we consider eradicating them for good?

Should we wipe mosquitoes off the face of the Earth?

Easier said than done.

We came close to moderating mosquito populations in Panama when constructing the canal but when looking at Central America, South America, North America, Africa...etc...... I doubt we have resources to exterminate them completely.

 

[gtopa1]

No, they are part of the ability to raise crops through cross pollination..

Yep.

Greg

 

[irosie91]

No, they are part of the ability to raise crops through cross pollination..

I did not know-----gee-----

 

[RodISHI]

No, they are part of the ability to raise crops through cross pollination..

Did you read the whole article?

They are also part of the food chain. For bats especially.

Fry (fish) also need them when they first hatch out.

 

[yiostheoy]

God must have had some good reason for creating mosquitoes.

By God I mean the Deist, Philosophy God, not necessarily any of the Theist, organized religion God(s).

I know that fish eat mosquitoes. So do frogs.

We would be depriving the fish and frogs of their food supply if we annihilated mosquitoes.

The mosquitoes do however kill more humans than any other animal does including man himself.

Various species die out all the time and the Earth seems to survive though.

And mosquitoes killing people may also serve as a population control.

Back in my motorcycle days I have eaten my share of mosquitoes in the early morning and late evening when they come out. They don't have much of a taste, so you would need to add salt and pepper. The fish and frogs must not care then.

My instinct would be to kill them, sure. But I am trained to kill things. It is a natural bias that I have. All thanks to Uncle Sam.

 

[HUGGY]

God must have had some good reason for creating mosquitoes.

By God I mean the Deist, Philosophy God, not necessarily any of the Theist, organized religion God(s).

I know that fish eat mosquitoes. So do frogs.

We would be depriving the fish and frogs of their food supply if we annihilated mosquitoes.

The mosquitoes do however kill more humans than any other animal does including man himself.

Various species die out all the time and the Earth seems to survive though.

And mosquitoes killing people may also serve as a population control.

Back in my motorcycle days I have eaten my share of mosquitoes in the early morning and late evening when they come out. They don't have much of a taste, so you would need to add salt and pepper. The fish and frogs must not care then.

My instinct would be to kill them, sure. But I am trained to kill things. It is a natural bias that I have. All thanks to Uncle Sam.

Only a fraction of mosquito species carry disease. It seems that the success in prevention such as vaccines holds the greatest promise.

 

[yiostheoy]

Well then if we could kill off the species that carry disease and replace them with reintroduced benign species that would be a major accomplishment.

This is my killer instinct kicking in again of course.

But I still wonder if we need the virulent mosquitoes to help us control the population of the Earth.

The Malthusian predictions of uncontrolled skyrocketing growth accompanied ultimately by widespread famine and starvation are not pretty either.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Even before the Zika virus, mosquitoes were the deadliest creatures on the planet. But gene modification means these blood suckers’ days might be numbered. Is it dangerous to talk about ‘editing nature’, or should we consider eradicating them for good?

Should we wipe mosquitoes off the face of the Earth?

Only if you want to wipe out all the animals that feed on them as well

 

[The Great Goose]

they are the scourge of nature. kill them with fire.

 

[The Great Goose]

Well then if we could kill off the species that carry disease and replace them with reintroduced benign species that would be a major accomplishment.

This is my killer instinct kicking in again of course.

But I still wonder if we need the virulent mosquitoes to help us control the population of the Earth.

The Malthusian predictions of uncontrolled skyrocketing growth accompanied ultimately by widespread famine and starvation are not pretty either.

mosquitoes hardly kill anyone. they just give you recurring viral diseases and keep you up at night, and dis-permit you from going out of your tent to pee.

 

[Mindful]

Well then if we could kill off the species that carry disease and replace them with reintroduced benign species that would be a major accomplishment.

This is my killer instinct kicking in again of course.

But I still wonder if we need the virulent mosquitoes to help us control the population of the Earth.

The Malthusian predictions of uncontrolled skyrocketing growth accompanied ultimately by widespread famine and starvation are not pretty either.

mosquitoes hardly kill anyone. they just give you recurring viral diseases and keep you up at night, and dis-permit you from going out of your tent to pee.

So that's how you live.

I had the bedroom windows meshed. Couldn't stand that buzzing round my head at midnight.

 

[Skull Pilot]

If you want to control mosquitoes around your home then encourage bats to nest by putting bat houses around your property

 

[Mindful]

We had bats too. Didn't stop the nightly buzzing visitations though.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Mosquitos transfer diseases that kill millions of humans every year. Would you think we shouldn't wipe cancer out if we had the chance? Cancer could be described as a living thing.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Even before the Zika virus, mosquitoes were the deadliest creatures on the planet. But gene modification means these blood suckers’ days might be numbered. Is it dangerous to talk about ‘editing nature’, or should we consider eradicating them for good?

Should we wipe mosquitoes off the face of the Earth?

humanity has always modified our environment. I don't see the reason why not.

 

[Mindful]

Even before the Zika virus, mosquitoes were the deadliest creatures on the planet. But gene modification means these blood suckers’ days might be numbered. Is it dangerous to talk about ‘editing nature’, or should we consider eradicating them for good?

Should we wipe mosquitoes off the face of the Earth?

humanity has always modified our environment. I don't see the reason why not.

We should play God?