# Modified Mosquitos - Yea or Nay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 20, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modified-mosquitos-yea-or-nay/918526 "2020-08-20T00:25:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modified-mosquitos-yea-or-nay/918526/61 "2021-08-01T03:33:59Z")
Man, this can’t come soon enough. Mosquitos never really used to be a thing here in SoCal, but the last few years those fuckers have made like so many East Coasters a generation ago and overrun the place. If I can donate or volunteer or contribute to this effort in any way, sign me up! ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modified-mosquitos-yea-or-nay/918526/62 "2021-08-01T03:57:25Z")
I’m struggling to understand what the benefit is of trying to eliminate mosquitoes by adding sterile males or females to the mix, as opposed to just…creating some sort of mosquito-attracting-and-killing device, then placing thousands of such devices all around the place. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modified-mosquitos-yea-or-nay/918526/63 "2021-08-01T11:51:27Z")
Because that’s logistically unfeasible, ineffective, and very expensive . ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modified-mosquitos-yea-or-nay/918526/64 "2021-08-01T12:00:30Z")
“killing devices” also tend to be indiscriminate as well. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modified-mosquitos-yea-or-nay/918526/65 "2021-08-01T12:03:54Z")
That too. Also, traps need to be monitored. They need to be EMPTIED. They need to be repaired when damaged by weather, wildlife, or vandalism. They need to be replaced when destroyed or stolen (when we put out traps for field work, we often put big fake radioactivity warnings on them to keep people from stealing or fucking around with them). Do you think you’re going to control malaria by putting thousands (actually millions) of traps all across Sub-Saharan Africa? When you say “I just don’t understand why scientists just don’t do XYZ…” you probably don’t understand the situation. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modified-mosquitos-yea-or-nay/918526/66 "2021-08-01T12:14:42Z")
Now, traps ARE used for monitoring purposes. The Gates foundation and Microsoft have both funded the development of some clever contraptions that can be airdropped into the environment, identify the mosquitoes they catch automatically, and transmit the data back to scientists and health care workers. Makes surveillance easier. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modified-mosquitos-yea-or-nay/918526/67 "2021-08-05T19:52:46Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > creating some sort of mosquito-attracting-and-killing device, then placing thousands of such devices all around the place. They’re creating a mosquito attracting and neutering device, then placing 750,000,000 of them all around the place. It’s just that the device in question is a sterile male mosquito, or a male mosquito with sterilizing genetics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modified-mosquitos-yea-or-nay/918526.md?page=3)