Google’s Parent Has a Plan to Eliminate Mosquitoes Worldwide

[jscott]

Jerry, you’re funny and a good guy; you don’t play people. Katt didn’t mean that I’m sure.

After all my posts, if scientists could target malaria in one species of mosquitoes and eliminate it, and other species would fill the niche…maybe a good thing.

[Kattt]

@jerry I meant it as you are making a joke and I take it seriously.

@obx hiker thanks for the contribution to this thread. Really helpful .

[obx hiker]

yeah well on that subject….. Humor is funny because it’s true….. and about human nature and things we usually don’t really quite want to talk about or admit.

Laugh or cry….. I ‘d rather laugh…. along with you….  ;)

[Kattt]

I was serious in my appreciation btw, just in case it was taken as humorous..

[Jim Colten]

Even E. O. Wilson is willing to get by without some species … two if recall correctly.  One was Anopheles.  I don’t recall the other.

[Kattt]

https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-04-04/why-famous-biologist-wants-eradicate-killer-mosquitoes

He makes a great case imo.

[Jerry Adams]

yeah, maybe that makes sense for a small part of one species.  Good article.  And it links to an interesting looking podcast.

[Jerry Adams]

the best humor has a grain of truth to it

and the corollary, the best truth has a grain of humor to it

[jscott]

That’s downright Greek, Jerry! but more optimistic.

[obx hiker]

That’s a great link! I’ve learned a lot of new things from this thread.

From the linked article: Underlining done by me.

“There are species in the world which have for tens of thousands of years specialized on humans. <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>They can only live on humans.</span> Of course, a lot of pathogens use them to feed on humans, such as malaria, viruses and various forms of bacteria. These include a group of mosquitoes called the Anopheles gambiae. We don’t want to wipe out all Anopheles because that’s a vital link in food chains around a lot of the world.

But Anopheles gambiae — the group of species in Africa that co-evolved with people over thousands of years — is specialized to live in human settlements and lives on human blood. As a result, it’s a principal conveyer of malaria. That’s one I wouldn’t mind seeing go. ”

So the Anopheles Gambiae which must be from Gambia…. came along with malaria just like the Aedes Aegypti and Yellow Fever and both or all 4 are legacies of slavery. It’s like the mark of Cain. Like Faulkner said: “The past is never dead; it’s not even past.”

I think the others, dengue fever,  West Nile fever, chikungunya, eastern equine encephalitis, and Zika came later and found the perfect transition species waiting.

[Author]

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