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Comment by rcpt | Hacker News Reader

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

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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...

This is by far the safer way to do these things. You never know what's going to happen when you Geneer a completely new organism and then release it into the wild.

Screwworms have actually broken through the Darrien Gap and hopes of recontaining them are slim.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2025/05/screwwor...

I'd say the USDA will handle this, but there has never been less competent leadership at the top so we're probably toast unless someone is brave enough to let rip with a gene drive attack (which I would personally love to see, biotech reactionaries be damned).

In this cade, I disagree with environmentalists. Mosquitoes have killed more humans than all the wars, possibly half whoever lived or 50 billion. They aren't essential.

Interesting thought - ARE mosquitoes essential? What actually do they do in the food chain? Simply provide food/biomass for frogs/fish/etc?

An old friend had lived in one of the West African countries for a couple of years. She said that the then president used to say that the capital should have a large statue of a mosquito, since mosquito-borne diseases had greatly reduced the intensity of colonialism.

Why did they kill it? Were risks identified independent of eliminating mosquitoes, or was it killed due to perceived causal effects of eliminating mosquitoes?

Because diseases have a tendency to recombine and jump hosts - it could become a human plague- similar to malaria..

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.

That was a sibling comment of the GP (sterilized mosquitos), the article itself is about a genetically engineered disease.

The article has mosquitos "releasing toxic proteins in their semen". Seems like the sterilization is a much better option. "We promise it's not toxic to humans" didn't turn out so well for RoundUp.

> I've been having some success with "mosquito dunks" in buckets

Huh, TIL [1].

[1] https://www.countryliving.com/gardening/a65047508/mosquito-b...

> You can use them just about anywhere that collects water—bird baths, fish ponds, etc.–because BTi is totally non-toxic to other wildlife. The only caveat here is that you don't want to use mosquito dunks in water that'll be ingested or touched by humans, so avoid using it in pools.

It's totally safe! Except for two species: mosquitos and humans. Right. At least the label [1] doesn't make any claims about it being safe for wildlife. It just says it's not safe for humans (and mosquitos.)

[1] https://www.domyown.com/images/323-2.jpg

Once I realized that I live in a human supremacist society, it's hard not to notice it everywhere. The same paragraph you highlighted also stood out to me. Recommended reading [1]

[1] https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2024/08/mm-12-human-supremacy/

Maybe if they do it in neighboring states, some of the mosquitos will fly over the border.

Not if we build a wall, how high can mosquitoes fly?

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