from Hacker News

Scientists genetically engineer a lethal mosquito STD to combat malaria

by burnt-resistor on 6/16/25, 6:13 PM with 54 comments

• by rcpt on 6/16/25, 7:34 PM

  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

• by chasil on 6/16/25, 7:23 PM

  "Recently, mosquitoes and mosquito-borne parasites have developed resistance to chemical treatments and antimalarial drugs."

  This seems similar to phage therapy, in that the treatment continues to evolve along with the target.

  The treatment in the above article is a fungus. "Despite being lethal to mosquitoes, the transgenic Metarhizium fungus is harmless in humans."

  https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2104592118

• by DrNosferatu on 6/18/25, 11:45 AM

  Easy guess:

  Nature will find a way around this - and - a "rabbits in Australia" outcome is quite possible.

  Much better to use AI to design a multi-enzyme/protein pill / vaccine to get humans & pets & livestock out of the mosquito food chain.

• by pazimzadeh on 6/16/25, 8:55 PM

  I worked in Raymond St. Leger’s lab for a short time in college. I can pass along any questions you have, and will send him the link to this discussion.

• by User23 on 6/16/25, 7:05 PM

  Next do ticks.

• by ChrisMarshallNY on 6/16/25, 8:33 PM

  > “It’s essentially an arms race between the mosquitoes and us," says St. Leger. "Just as they keep adapting to what we create, we have to continuously develop new and creative ways to fight them,”

  I just had a vision of Jeff Goldblum muttering something...

• by peterlada on 6/17/25, 5:25 AM

  Why don't we kill off a species at the bottom of a food pyramid. What can go wrong?

  Who needs frogs and swallows anyway?!?

• by recursivedoubts on 6/16/25, 8:15 PM

  "when wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death"

• by DrNosferatu on 6/17/25, 1:23 AM

  What could possibly go wrong?

• by mont_tag on 6/17/25, 12:11 AM

  > Scientists genetically engineer a lethal mosquito STD to combat malaria

  Nothing could possibly go wrong.