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The Fear of a World Without the Mosquito

 E. Ablorh-Odjidja

November 10, 2018

 

For start, can science bring back the mosquito, after extinction by the "gene drive" experiment, when it is determined that the outcome of the experiment is worse than malaria?

 

In other words, is it good or bad to rid us entirely of the mosquito population, rather than controlling its population and growth?

 

 Only non-scientists like us can ask this question before the AU accepts the proposed “gene drive” experiment in Africa, as alleged

 

Anthony A. James, a scientist, in his article on “Gene Drive System In Mosquitoes: Rules of the Road,“  describes a “naturally occurring or synthetic genetic mechanisms for gene spread upon which drive .” the gene drive is based to eradicate mosquitoes. 

 

In plain English, the “gene drive” attacks the fertility of the malaria carrying mosquito.  And soon, it breeds itself out.

 

The effort is already out of the gate.  The pesky little critter’s existence in Africa and elsewhere is, probably, now under threat.

 

A web publication, TheScientist, reports on Sept 24, 2018 thata gene drive has successfully caused the collapse of a malaria-carrying mosquito population in the lab.

 

“This is the first time a gene drive—a genetic element that ensures its own inheritance—has caused a population of mosquitoes to self-destruct, a result that holds promise for combating malaria.”

 

West Africa, known as “the white man’s graveyard” because of the mosquito, will become a paradise for all.  Its huge potential in land and resources will beckon welcome to all! 

 

Well, is that the good news, with the mosquito gone?

 

We should be very careful here.

 

The “gene drive” in question causes infertility in mosquitoes.  But is that where the infertility stops and can the infertility be transmitted to humans? 

Just asking questions worthy of a non-scientist.  Not trying to spin a conspiracy theory here.

But this mosquito raid reminds me of when the HIV virus was said to have crossed the species barrier!

 

Infertility threat aside, there will still be other problems. 

 

With the mosquito eradicated, population explosion will occur within the indigene society, in addition to new settlers for whom the eradication of the mosquito will open a new frontier for migration.

 

Biodiversity in the mosquito affected region will suffer.  But when one aspect of nature is destroyed, other things go down too.

 

A web article, published November 07, 2018, has something to say about this conundrum called biodiversity.

 

It cites a Florida study, which finds that the population of “monarch butterflies declined 80 percent since 2005.”

 

And the article points out the trigger factors for the decline:

 

It started with the development of areas that had natural growth of “native milkweed, the favorite food of young monarchs.

 

The other trigger is the widespread use of a herbicide called glyphosate, often applied to farm fields to kill weeds…” The herbicides killed the milkweed.

 

The milkweed is a cherished food for the monarch butterfly.

 

In biodiversity terms, the mosquito is a cherished food of others in the food chain.  What else will be disturbed in the region when the mosquito is eradicated?

 

VOX, another web publication, comes in with an answer:

 

Vox claims, in an article on insects, that loss of those little critters, which “serve as food for many other forms of life in the ecosystem — has also coincided with losses of birds, lizards, and frogs.“

 

Thus, it is reasonable to expect at the top of the food chain that humans can also be impacted, when insects like the mosquito “are obliterated from the bottom.”

 

Unless it could be argued that the last stage of human life is an unnecessary factor because the human in malaria prone areas, just like the mosquito, would have been redenderd infertile by the gene drive!

 

This article is not written because of love for mosquitoes or malaria. It is written because of the fear of what can be unleashed. 

 

The reverse of the adversity we have now, in the form of mosquito induced malaria, could be nastier with the mosquito gone.

 

We know deaths by malaria will be reduced.  A good thing, but increasing life expectancy also has its unsavory outcomes. 

 

There would be population growth and this will be the next evil to tackle.

 

Human populations grow exponentially and will always outpace man’s ability to grow food for consumption, according to the economist Malthus.

 

Sooner or later, the population growth problem will demand a solution.  The solution will be either pleasant or unpleasant. 

 

The unpleasant part is already happening on the African continent today.  Some are fleeing the continent, trekking across the Sahara desert for greener pastures in Europe, while others remain to fight over the little that is available.

 

The philanthropist Bill Gates is aware of the problem. especially its impact on the West.

 

He has proposed a beneficent solution to provide humanitarian support to keep the youth of Africa from fleeing the continent.

 

Ironically, in the face of this Gates’ humanitarian proposal, we come to find out that the "gene drive" effort is also backed by the Gates Foundation. 

 

What does Bill want, one would ask.

 

What went so suddenly wrong with Bill’s original, beneficent concern about population growth in Africa and its impact on the West to this move for the “gene drive”?

 

Could the “gene drive” be a Trojan Horse” for something else?

 

But the choice make could hide a devilish consequence. 

 

This “gene drive” is a big venture, a huge disturbance of nature and so consequential to life, that we should not leave the decision to science alone.

 

Science must promote rather simple measures to contain the mosquito;  clean environmental practices, getting rid of trash, draining ponds, gutters and scanty use of the DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane).

 

By the way, old folks alive today in some parts of Africa owe the DDT their lucky survival from death by malaria. DDT was the control mechanism for the mosquito.  It was used in rooms at homes and gutters in towns until the early 70s.

 

I’ll rather contain the malaria by using the DDT than eradicate mosquitoes outright. 

 

E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher www.ghanadot.com, Washington, DC, November 10, 2018

Permission to publish: Please feel free to publish or reproduce, with credits, unedited. If posted at a website, email a copy of the web page to publisher@ghanadot.com . Or don't publish at all.

 

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