There is mention in today's newspaper of how scientists in the U.S. and Great Britain are genetically altering mosquitoes so they cannot fly. It's being done in an effort to combat their ability to spread dengue fever. Not being familiar with dengue fever, I just now skimmed the Wikipedia entry about it, and it is awful to think about. Hopefully something can be done.
The reason the article caught my eye is a thought I had years ago about how eliminating all mosquitoes seemed like a good idea. What if I had the power to do so? What good are mosquitoes anyway? Then over time, it started dawning on me how much mosquitoes are depended upon as a food source for countless creatures: birds, bats, etc. And I now realize that they too are an important part of the web of life.
So although I applaud efforts to curb the spread of a disease as awful as dengue fever, I would also like to caution against messing with Mother Nature. These kinds of things have much too often resulted in unforeseen domino effects. Please be careful!
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