A Bill Gates-backed mosquito factory in Medellín, Colombia, is turning one of humanity’s deadliest insects into an unlikely ally in the fight against disease. Every week, scientists breed tens of millions of mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia, a naturally occurring bacterium that makes it much harder for them to transmit viruses like dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. Instead of killing mosquitoes with chemicals, the program releases these specially bred mosquitoes into local communities, where they mate with wild mosquito populations and help spread the protective trait naturally over time.
What sounds like science fiction is actually a public health strategy already being used by the World Mosquito Program, with Medellín reporting major reductions in dengue after Wolbachia mosquitoes became established in the area.
It’s a strange but powerful idea: releasing mosquitoes not to spread disease,
but to stop it...
What happens to the birds and other animals that eat mosquitos to survive?
ReplyDeleteIf the evil Bill Gates is involved there's an excellent chance that the mosquitoes are spreading dangerous diseases as part of his ongoing agenda to murder people by the millions.
ReplyDeleteThat was my thought when I read this. He's no humanitarian, he's in it to reduce the population to the number he believes is correct.
DeleteI gather the Gates desire is for a world population of 500 million. He's not interested in you and me except as statistics.
DeleteWith you both. Billy Boy is not on our side. Next he will say he is doing the same with the ticks he is breeding. Nice PR for him.
DeleteIdiots relying on two things that are not true: they release just males that don't bite humans and all the offspring die. Neither is true and guarantees infected females biting humans and transmitting the disease they carry.
ReplyDeleteLike Bob Roas would say, happy little accidents... like lyme disease and lone star ticks paid for by your tax dollars.