http://www.ted.com/talks/hadyn_parry_re_engineering_mosquitos_to_fight_disease.html
This is where ethics in science gets really sticky for me. It is far too easy to get caught up in the incredible implications some technologies can have for human health, and pass over the overshadowed ethical consequences. This is a simple, and most likely effective idea, and the technology is accessible. But with this aside, there are many who hold strong objections to the heavy-handed manipulation of an organism, whether they are a pathogen or not. I find it difficult to make up my mind about this stuff, so let me know what you all think!
I personally don’t have a problem with this approach. The idea is simply to make the male mosquitos sterile and introducing those to the malaria-carrying mosquitos. This sterility trait will obviously not be passed on to the indigenous mosquitos. Sounds like much less harm than heavy use of pesticides.
I think we should have a “Drosophila Deontology” course in the bio program!