Malaria-carrying mosquitoes kill hundreds of thousands of people every year. Scientists have found a way to get rid of them by spreading a gene to wipe out mosquito populations. But is it a good idea?

Reporter: Louise Osborne
Video Editor: David Jacobi
Supervising Editor: Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann, Kiyo Dörrer & Joanna Gottschalk
Special thanks to: Wadzanayi Mandevenyi and Naima Sykes

We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.

#PlanetA #Malaria #Extinction

Read more:

Malaria facts: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sh...

Mosquitoes with gene drives study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...

International treaties on biosafety: https://bch.cbd.int/protocol/

What purpose do mosquitoes serve? https://blog.nwf.org/2020/09/what-pur...

A world without mosquitoes: https://www.nature.com/articles/466432a

Control of invasive species: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/...

The promise of gene drives: https://www.nature.com/articles/d4158...

Gene drives tested in mammals: https://www.nature.com/articles/d4158...

Chapters

00:00 Intro
00:48 Why are mosquitoes dangerous?
02:26 The fight against mosquitoes
06:53 Concerns and cons
7:54 Stopping the spread
8:36 Impact on the ecosystem