Extincting mosquitoes and other blood-sucking, disease-spreading parasites

[dimreepr]

45 minutes ago, Peter Dow said:

It should be possible for the World Health Organisation and its partner organisations artificially to introduce the gene drive to eliminate any inter-breeding population. Obviously isolated populations and sub-species will remain extant until such time as they are targeted for eradication.

[Itoero]

4 hours ago, Peter Dow said:

It should be possible for the World Health Organisation and its partner organisations artificially to introduce the gene drive to eliminate any inter-breeding population. Obviously isolated populations and sub-species will remain extant until such time as they are targeted for eradication.

"i]t will still be at least 5-10 years before we consider testing any mosquitoes with gene drive in the wild.”

It's a promising technology but it has to develop a lot. First, his team will need to test the gene drive in larger containers, where the mosquitoes can act more naturally, Crisanti tells Wired—swarming to find a mate, for instance. Such details were difficult to mimic in the 20 cubic centimeter cages used in this study. They also need to make sure it's safe for other animals.https://www.the-scientist.com/features/using-gene-drives-to-limit-the-spread-of-malaria-32286

Killing all mosquitoes is not the goal and it's impossible due to many reasons.

[Nod2003]

I think the idea has potential, but before introducing a gene to eliminate a species, one needs to consider all the consequences.  

1.  Ensure that the gene can’t jump to other species.

2.  That eliminating the species won’t unintentionally eliminate species that depend on eating or otherwise benefiting from the target species.

3.  Be ready to handle any unintended species filling the vacuum left by eliminating the target species which may cause deleterious side effects.

4.  Be ready to handle the target species mutating in a way that renders it more resilient to genetic attack.