Published On Feb 19, 2016
Do mosquitoes serve a purpose in the ecosystem? As one of the most hated creatures on the planet, some people have wondered why we don't just kill them ALL? Let's unpack this issue, with SciShow!
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Sources:
History of War against Mosquitoes/DDT
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/10072...
http://www.panna.org/resources/ddt-story
http://www.scientificamerican.com/art...
Ecological Impacts
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/10072...
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.or...
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/poll...
Zika Mosquito
http://www.cdc.gov/zika/transmission/...
http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?opti...
RNA Molecular Pesticide (killing)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18...
Transgenic Male Mosquitoes -- self-limiting gene, kills offspring (killing)
http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/art...
http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/art...
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sci...
http://www.oxitec.com/faqs/
Transgenic Mosquitoes -- gene drive, Anopheles (resistance to parasite)
http://www.pnas.org/content/112/49/E6736
http://www.latimes.com/science/scienc...
http://www.nature.com/news/gene-drive...
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/1...
Wolbachia -- bacteria infection, Aedes (resistance to virus)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/art...
http://www.eliminatedengue.com/our-re...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23...
Wolbachia Parasite Superinfection -- preventing potential viral resistance http://www.eurekalert.org/emb_release...
https://www.plos.org/wp-content/uploa...
Images:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DD...