What If We Killed Every Mosquito On Earth?

What would happen if mosquitoes went extinct? And could this new mosquito eradicate disease? Some brilliant scientists have made all of this possible.

Special thanks to Dr. Scott O'Neill and the World Mosquito Program for their help.

Written by: Mitchell Moffit
Edited by: Luka Šarlija

FOLLOW US!
TikTok: @AsapSCIENCE

Sources and Further Reading:

[genericplantlife]

I got hospitalized with dengue some years back, and I have a childhood friend who died of dengue. Personally, I wouldn't mind a mosquito eradication.

[georgiegan]

Scientists: I used the disease to destroy the disease.

[OneManBassoonBand]

My dad was killed by West Nile Virus he caught from a mosquito bite - would not be sad to see every single mosquito in the world eradicated

[baliroads]

I’m currently laying here in a hospital bed. For the past 4 days I’ve getting over high feavers because I got dengue… your video is good timing on my feed

[dustyclink]

I'm a senior in high-school, when I first heard about this story I was in 7th grade doing a research project on mosquitoes. I'm really glad the plan is actually starting to take shape, hopefully it can go global and these pests can be a thing of the past. Literally just flying used needles, goodbye measles!

[Alfiy_Wolf]

Bro, a bug factory? I didn’t know we were allowed to be super villains now, Ight time to build a death Ray

[ejgomez]

Interesting study. Next, you should do a video on what would happen if we killed every mosquito on Earth.

[franghigli]

Here in Argentina (and I believe most of South America), we deal with seasonal waves of dengue. Every summer, dengue cases skyrocket. This year was worse, at least in my province. There was a downpour that lasted like a week. That made mosquito hatcheries a lot more productive which lead to record highs in my city. My friend from uni got it and was hospitalized for a month and he lost most of his bodyweight. That's just this year.every summer I hear "X person got dengue and is in the hospital". Hearing that they are actively solving the issue puts a smile on my face.

[leonardsalt]

"Primarily by spreading disease" - I'm scared to learn what their secondary method is

[gilangperdiansyah]

As someone who caught dengue fever in pandemic. Hearing this is very relieving. In my family, only my mom that has not caught dengue fever. Hope it stays that way

[gabriellbeltrame]

I had hemorrhagic dengue in 2016, spent a full week hospitalized. If this program achieve success it'll be an awesome thing

[siddharthkrishna]

You fooled me with the click-bait 😭. I was really expecting to know what if there are no mosquitoes

[pedrobaofi]

Bro, i was watching from Brazil and when you said that mosquitos are the deadliest animal on earth i just heared one in mu ear, my soul left oit pf my body

[noisypr]

I was diagnosed with Chikungunya in 2015 and I've never been the same since, I develop a rare case of osteocondritis in my right ankle and left me unable to use my foot for two weeks and after the virus was gone the condition remained, making my ankle to swell and hurt really bad to the point where I couldn't firm my foot to the floor. Bare In mind I was 15 back then so my body still was developing and body cells are healthier. In the end after many MRI and many orthopedic doctor opinions, I got surgeries in 2021, 6 years later and the condition has disappeared ever since. The virus truly changed my everyday life. From doing sports everyday for hours to barely an hour before I had to take a rest because of my ankle. I'm grateful this matter is being tackled because I wouldn't want anyone to go through what I did almost 10 years ago.

[Jeffman]

I was diagnosed with dengue/fever when I was around 10 years old (around 2009), in Medellin, Colombia (Aburra Valley) the same place where this video talked about. I have been able to see first hand the declines of dengue related sickness and deaths. The mosquito program has been an incredible and clever way to stop the spread of this virus, often affecting low income families.

[Nick-mpzh]

Glad you put this video out, I’m not sure when I ever would have heard of this project otherwise. This is an incredibly cool thing they’re doing

[Hydrologist]

This is Nobel prize stuff, THIS IS A HUGE DEAL

[KrustyBunion]

Metal Gear Solid 5 explored the idea of Modified Wolbachia spreading through vocal chords. Good to hear that in the real world it's being used for good

[shoyusuki]

I hope that this can continue to help people. I had a relative that was brought to the ICU because of a severe dengue and I would say it was one of the lowest point in my life because of stress, on top of that I was also hospitalized at the same time because of mild dengue fever as well.

[underlock]

Short, straight to the point, interesting, and leaving learning something new and more interested in the matter. Left my like and support here 🤘