Mosquitoes Research Paper

Mosquitoes are known to be one of the deadliest animals on earth, killing over a million people per year. The diseases transmitted by mosquitoes have been proven to be extremely painful and detrimental to one’s health. This report will identify the benefits and consequences of eliminating mosquitoes and the various technologies available to combat this issue in upcoming years.

Review

There are currently 3,500 species of mosquitoes in existence; 6% of which are female and are known to extract blood from humans. However, only half of these species are involved in the spread of diseases that affect humans. The most common species of mosquitoes are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Aedes aegypti is the prime vector of the Zika virus and dengue

The arguments made against this included the rising number of deaths caused by mosquitoes. Their elimination would have the potential to save thousands of lives.

The group also considered the consequences of eliminating mosquitoes. It could result in a disruption in the food chain as they are fed upon by birds and bats. There are also concerns regarding the possibility of the mosquitoes being replaced by an even deadlier species. It was also discussed whether the eradication of mosquitoes was ethically appropriate. I think that destroying an entire species when only 6% are responsible for the spread of harmful diseases to humans is inhumane. Targeting these specific deleterious species rather than all mosquitoes would be more

This includes the use of the bacteria Wolbachia. The main benefit of releasing this bacterium into the environment is that it is self-sustaining. The group further discussed the consequences that may be associated with the use of a bacteria. An important point brought up by a group member was that it was uncertain whether the Wolbachia-infected male mosquitoes will be favoured by the females over the wild male mosquitoes. This raised the questions as to how long this bacteria will be capable of persisting in the population. I believe that if the method worked, even for a short period, it would still be beneficial as it gives us time to evolve and discover new technologies and medicine to combat this problem. The group also discussed the use of less common methods such as DDT. It was agreed that this was significantly risky and dangerous for the environment. Overall, the majority of the group and I agreed that all mosquitoes should not be eradicated but, we should aim to target only the harmful species. The discussion allowed me to listen to other people's ideas and opinions whilst formulating my own on this