r/technology • u/lurker_bee • 23h ago

Biotechnology Burkina Faso says no to Bill Gates’ plan of creating modified species of mosquitoes

https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/burkina-faso-says-no-to-bill-gates-plan-of-creating-modified-species-of-mosquitoes/xyk7xm8
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u/BeardedDragon1917 23h ago

Traore is big on self-sufficiency for Burkina Faso, so if the solution has to be provided on an ongoing basis by the West, he isn’t going to be really keen on it. Accepting gifts from nations more powerful than yours often comes with strings attached, especially when you’re an African nation. You don’t need genetic modification to eliminate malaria/mosquitoes, and if they can do it themselves and build up a domestic pest-control industry in the process then good for them.

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u/Techygal9 21h ago

You do know the genetically modified mosquitoes are already used in the US? So it’s not an experiment out on Africa. I do agree that they should try to develop local scientists. So if he welcomes the gates foundation back if they fund a local lab using local scientists then I would say he is effectively leading.

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u/Rion23 19h ago

The problem with GMOs is that someone owns the patent. You have to continuously pay for the product, like crops. And with crops, of they happen to blow into your field and start growing, they can come after you and Sue you for using their product without paying for them.

Basically, they are selling subscriptions.

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u/Moifaso 16h ago

The problem with GMOs is that someone owns the patent. You have to continuously pay for the product, like crops.

1- This is also true for regular, "naturally" selected strains or hybrids. IP law doesn't just apply to GMOs

2 - If GMOs weren't "one and done" and could be sold once and then naturally replicate, they could spread on their own and outcompete natural vegetation. We really don't want that.

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u/Techygal9 18h ago

For gmo crops yes, this is a huge problem. For these mosquitos no they are not being patented in the same way. The techniques to create them are patented. So the method of making the male mosquitoes sterile or unable to reproduce female mosquitoes, the specific genes they use will be patented. But in this case the gates foundation is giving this away for free, like they do anti malarial medicine, mosquito nets, etc. If the leaders are worried about the patent and having access to the science they can make that a requirement for things to take place in Burkina Faso.

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u/Tylendal 16h ago

of they happen to blow into your field and start growing, they can come after you and Sue you for using their product without paying for them.

No they can't. Hilariously, a group actually tried to sue to stop Monsanto from doing that, and got thrown out of court when they couldn't actually provide any examples of them ever doing so. Schmeiser and Bowman weren't examples of that, they were both very deliberately trying to obtain a product outside of contract.

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u/RockOrStone 22h ago

That’s a big if

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u/general_bonesteel 22h ago

I have a prediction, they're not and malaria will continue to harm the country's people.

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u/Expert-Diver7144 20h ago

Hmm wonder why

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u/vAttack 22h ago

It's no secret that it's only a matter of time until the US or an EU country devises a ploy to murder Traore and replaces him with a more western sympathetic head. Hasn't been the first time.

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u/Expert-Diver7144 20h ago

Yep Sankara 2.0

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u/BeardedDragon1917 22h ago

This genetic modification technology is very cool, but it is certainly not the only way of eliminating malaria in a country. Doing it themselves means that Burkina Faso will be developing their own economy, creating good jobs for their citizens, and avoiding future dependence on the United States. No matter what your attitude towards the west is, it should be clear by now that a country cannot depend on the foreign aid programs of the United States to fund its growth. As I said before, Traore is very big on building self-sufficiency in Burkina Faso, and he is also a outspoken anti-imperialist who views fighting the influence of the West and the IMF to be one of his top priorities.

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u/Vanaquish231 16h ago

Again such as what? What can Faso do to combat malaria? Actually fuck it let's swap the question, why would you choose to decline additional help. We are talking about lives here.

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u/BeardedDragon1917 15h ago

Do you really think that we have no ways of combating mosquitoes other than genetically modified males? Do you think that nobody tried to address this problem before the Bill Gates foundation?

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u/Vanaquish231 14h ago

Other than pesticides, and straight up dealing with the later infections, no not really.

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u/googleduck 5h ago

Yes plenty of people have tried to address the problem, moron. Yet the malaria deaths continue. Perhaps those methods aren't sufficient?

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u/Professional-Day7850 2h ago

Flip the order of your questions.

People tried to address the problem. Problem is still there. So those others ways don't seem to work that well.

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u/BeardedDragon1917 2h ago

These genetically modified mosquitoes were never meant to be a singular magic bullet against malaria. They are meant to be used alongside other methods of mosquito eradication, like spraying pesticides, draining their breeding grounds, and introducing natural predators. Not even Bill Gates is suggesting that you can’t eliminate malaria without this technology. A high tech solution might seem attractive, but if it’s a solution that can be shut off at the whim of a foreign government or NGO for political reasons, they don’t want to risk that. A lot of African leaders are extremely skeptical of aid programs, both because they can be used as geopolitical leverage against them, and because relying on foreign aid harms the growth and development of their nations economies.

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u/Gastronomicus 20h ago

but it is certainly not the only way of eliminating malaria in a country

There is literally no other way to do it other than massive pesticide applications and draining wetlands, two very problematic western approaches that effectively destroy natural ecosystems and many beneficial organisms as collateral damage.

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u/Harvestman-man 15h ago

Massive pesticide applications won’t do it. That worked in the US since there wasn’t all that much malaria in the US to begin with, but Burkina Faso has been using DDT to control mosquitos for decades, and now there are DDT-resistant mosquito populations and malaria is still around.

Mosquitos evolve, they’re animals with fast reproductive cycles.

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u/Gastronomicus 14h ago

I agree, I'm mostly pointing to the methods that they do already use. Large-scale applications work better when the breeding habitats are also eliminated, which is what happened across the USA, though it was never nearly as entrenched there as it is elsewhere which made things easier.

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u/Jealous_Response_492 22h ago

The pesticide alternatives come with there own associated risks, hence the genetic modification being preferable.

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u/supreme_harmony 16h ago

This genetic modification technology is very cool, but it is certainly not the only way of eliminating malaria in a country.

Could you list these alternatives and how they are superior to the solution proposed by Gates?

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u/BeardedDragon1917 15h ago

People have been draining the habitats that mosquitoes breed in, spraying pesticides and introducing predators for quite a long time. This genetically modified mosquito technology is meant to work in tandem with those methods. It’s not a magic bullet that’s going to solve the problem all by itself, and Burkina Faso’s reluctance to sign onto the program isn’t stupidity or ego, it’s a very well earned distrust of the west when it comes down to foreign aid programs.

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u/supreme_harmony 13h ago

Thank you for the reply.

Unfortunately draining the habitats mosquitoes breed in is not a viable strategy in Burkina Faso. That would mean draining all swamps, regulating all rivers, and collecting all rainwater and removing all lakes in a country where they have no resources to build paved roads to most settlements. It is not even close to happening and it would be disastrous if it would.

Spraying pesticides is equally not going to happen and even if it did it would lead to much worse effects than malaria, hence why its not being done.

Which means the alternatives you are proposing perform worse, are harder to carry out, and they are not even going to happen.

I don't see from your reasoning how shutting down this programme is a good decision. It will simply lead to many innocent people dying. And you are even arguing for it. Sad.

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u/BeardedDragon1917 12h ago

It would be great if the research foundations involved would actually publish the full DNA sequences and breeding protocols they’re using to make these genetically modified mosquitoes. Then places like Burkina Faso can breed and release the insects locally, without depending on a pipeline controlled by a foreign lab. As it stands, the leaders of Burkina Faso know better than to build public health infrastructure that can be shut off at the whim of a Western government or NGO. That caution isn’t paranoia or ego; decades of “development aid” that came bundled with strings attached, resource extraction, and political interference has made many in Africa extremely skeptical of foreign aid. When you’ve been on the receiving end of structural adjustment, forced dependency, and aid-as-leverage for half a century, you don’t jump at the chance to let Bill Gates and the UK biotech industry control your mosquito supply.

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u/supreme_harmony 11h ago

Here is the DNA sequence: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20070056051A1/en
Here is the paper describing how to create the mosquito strain: https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1741-7007-5-11
And here is a paper describing how you can order your own colony and breed them: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2018/7814643

Took me about 10 minutes to gather this.

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u/deceitfulillusion 22h ago edited 20h ago

Traore is a good leader but clearly not a pragmatist. I’m not sure how realistic it is for Burkina faso to develop a domestic mosquito control industry in a fast and cost effective time period. It is genuinely impossible to get rid of mosquitoes in the conventional manner since they breed like flies (which they technically are) and they can breed basically anywhere with water lol, and have a laughably short incubation period meaning they grow from larvae to adult in like 5 days.

Not saying he should accept Bill Gates’s offer by itself, but historically leaders have never had a local plan B when they reject a plan A From an international party.

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u/googleduck 5h ago

What would you say you think the odds are that in 10 years Burkina Faso has solved the malaria problem without the help of the West or outside philanthropy and in doing so has created a thriving industry around it? I would love to set up a bet with you, I'll give you 2:1 odds and any amount.

Man, it sincerely makes me sick to my stomach to see you anti-West people cheer on dictators and the deaths of poor people for some ideological line in the sand. Nothing would make you happier than millions of poor Africans dying to give a useless middle finger to the US or whatever. Disgusting.

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u/EconomicRegret 12h ago

Has any country developed because of chronic foreign aid? (Not talking about humanitarian/emergency aid in times of crisis).

All countries, including Western ones, that developed did so through investments from within and/or from abroad, and taxes with representation leading to better governmental spending. While donors require that their foreign aid money be used to buy products from their own countries, thus undercutting/bankrupting businesses in recipient countries. And that aid money makes recipients' government more caring about the donors, than their own citizens, while neglecting to raise taxes from them, thus not beholden to them.

Source: "Dead Aid" by Dambisa Moyo (a Zambian economist)

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u/Spida81 13h ago

Yeah, but so what? They should still try. All it will cost them is the preventable death of thousands of children!

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u/C4ndlejack 22h ago

You don’t need genetic modification to eliminate malaria/mosquitoes

Yeah you can just ask them politely to leave. What the fuck kind of alternatives do you think there are that work well? If there were any, malaria wouldn't be this much of a an issue worldwide. 

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u/googleduck 5h ago

These people have no actual solutions, their greatest joy in life is to be anti-West on every issue. No matter how many African corpses they leave behind it doesn't matter, as long as the evil "imperialist" west doesn't get a a "win".

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u/BeardedDragon1917 21h ago

Other countries have eliminated mosquitoes, it can be done by destroying their breeding grounds and using pesticides when necessary. These genetically modified mosquitoes were never meant to be used in isolation, as a magic bullet to eliminate malaria in one fell swoop. They are one tool, probably a very useful tool, but just one tool in a nation’s tool kit to deal with pests and insect-borne disease. It’s not like they object to the mosquitoes themselves, but they don’t want to start relying on a solution whose supply the West can then threaten to cut off.

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u/suckmysprucelog 14h ago

so thats a bit like saying a roofer don't want to use nails cause the hardware store could stop selling to them and would rather hope the slates stay on.

That's such a bullshit reason, also 'The West' cutting off humanitarian aid isn't really that likely, there have been very few cases of that actually happening.

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u/Kholtien 7h ago

If you use the right roofing techniques, you don’t need nails at all

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u/suckmysprucelog 5h ago

What technique would you use to slate a roof without nails? Or how would you secure the battens for roof tiles? (most common roof types where I am from) All of that gets nailed, and has been geeting nailed for hundreds of years.

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u/Kholtien 4h ago

Yeah, obviously you would use a different technique than one that requires nails if you were going to roof a house without nails.

There are tons of ways to roof without nails now. Peel and stick membranes, liquid coatings you just spray on, metal roofing with clips, even magnetic systems. TPO membrane just adheres to the roof deck. Way less leaks since no nail holes. Standing seam metal is super popular too, panels just snap together.

Technology has come a long way from just hammering shingles down

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u/suckmysprucelog 1h ago

Well I know most of these techniques, and at least standing seam metal and most metal clipping roofs still use nails, but honestly I was just trying to make a simple analogy, not get into a debate about roofing.

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u/Kholtien 22m ago

The analogy just shows that there are other ways. Honestly, it’s probably a mistake to turn down the GM mozzies, but I’m hoping for them. I really hope they can get things done without too much interference. I’d love the future if we can get a united African union.

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u/K3rm1tTh3Fr0g 22h ago

Lmfao apparently you do need it to eliminate malaria.

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u/BeardedDragon1917 22h ago

There are a lot of ways to systematically kill mosquitoes. Bill Gates has been very clear that this genetic modification method is meant to be used alongside preexisting methods, like draining stagnant water and spraying pesticides, and while the idea is sound, it is still largely untested, and shouldn’t be treated like a magic bullet. With hard work and good science, Burkina Faso could solve the problem themselves without needing GM mosquitoes at all, and of course, if in the future, in the name of scientific progress and humanitarian concern, the research institutions that developed these mosquitoes wanted to publicize the genetic code and breeding protocols they used to make these mosquitoes, allowing anyone with a biology lab to develop their own, that would probably be very welcome.

Whatever you feel about Traore’s attitude towards the west, we all have to acknowledge that it is no longer a viable risk to take for a small nation to start any kind of infrastructure program that has to rely on long-term funding or support from the United States.

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u/K3rm1tTh3Fr0g 22h ago

They just did it in hawaii.

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u/jab305 22h ago

Hawaii might have more resources available than Burkina Faso

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u/K3rm1tTh3Fr0g 22h ago

Which is why bill gates is funding it lmfao

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u/Wompish66 22h ago

Traore is big on self-sufficiency for Burkina Faso

While welcoming Russia's Wagner Group. He's a a massive hypocrite.

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u/Opulent-tortoise 20h ago

Yeah Traore isn’t big on actually accomplishing things he’s big on talking a big game and exploiting anti-west rubes. Self-sufficiency is totally fine (and good!) but you have to actually do it and not just dismantle your own country while saying you’re doing it and becoming dependent on Chinese infrastructure and Russian mercenaries.

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u/BannedBenjaminSr 19h ago

China builds infrastructure America bombs infrastructure. Not sure why Russia though

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u/buckX 19h ago

Building infrastructure in Africa is probably the aim of 10% of US charities, and comes with no strings attached. China builds mortgaged infrastructure then repos the country's assets.

Unfounded anti-west bias like this is exactly the problem that caused this stupidity.

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u/Remote_Cantaloupe 20h ago

It's just ethnonationalism repackaged as being "critical of The West" and African self sufficiency.

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u/Calm-Director-8896 22h ago

But they can't do it themselves. I know that by the fact they haven't done it yet.

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u/Stodles 22h ago

Maybe the fact that half the country is controlled by Al Qaeda/ISIS and they're focused on that has something to do with it...

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u/General_Session_4450 20h ago

Sounds like a good reason to accept outside help while they sort that issue out then.

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u/AccomplishedFail2247 19h ago

Ah, if only they hadn’t kicked out the French military that was fighting them then…

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u/puffz0r 19h ago

"The French can't do it (fighting Al Qaeda/ISIS) themselves. I know that by the fact that they haven't done it yet". The French were there for a long time and they had zero effect on stopping terrorists from menacing the country.

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u/AccomplishedFail2247 18h ago

And the Wagner group is better? War is famously slow, deadly and expensive. There is no winning a war, just not losing lmao.

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u/puffz0r 18h ago

I didn't say they were? If you want Al Qaeda and ISIS to stop maybe pressure the gulf states to cut their funding and arms shipments.

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u/Calm-Director-8896 22h ago

Then they are stupid, Malaria kills more

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u/hitbythebus 22h ago

To be fair, Bill Gates hasn’t used his genetically modified bloodsuckers to eliminated them yet either.

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u/Calm-Director-8896 22h ago

Gates is the one offering it, they declined. Or is reading not your strong suit?

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u/hitbythebus 22h ago

I’m mocking you because of your “they can’t because they haven’t ”.

It’s a stupid thing to say, because there are always firsts and the human capacity to grow and learn.

I’m just pointing out that you can say “bill can’t and I know because he hasn’t” even though he has plans and the means.

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u/Calm-Director-8896 22h ago

Yet they dont have the means, and they turned down someone with the means, all on some stupid national pride.

They cant because they dont have the means so they haven't.

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u/saxbophone 20h ago

It's silly to say "they haven't yet done it so they can't" when Gates' iniative hasn't achieved its goals yet either. That is the point.

Notwithstanding the fact this is an awful move and I share you doubt they will achieve it themselves.

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u/Calm-Director-8896 19h ago

Your second statement is my point. I was just being reductive to be succinct, albeit snarky.

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u/scrollin_on_reddit 20h ago

Can’t do it on their own? The program included scientists from across Africa. Here’s why they stopped the program days after another batch of the mosquitoes was released:

“The problem is the solution proposed by Target Malaria, which consists of eliminating the vector using gene-drive mosquitoes,”

He added that “This technology is highly controversial, unpredictable, and raises ethical concerns. More specifically, the impacts of gene-drive organisms on health and ecosystems remain unknown and potentially irreversible.”

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u/illusivegentleman 22h ago

Traore is big on self-sufficiency for Burkina Faso

The same guy who relies on Russian mercenaries to maintain control of power in his ramshackle dictatorship?

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u/vha23 22h ago

Do you want them to build a generic drug manufacturer on their own for malaria drugs? 

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u/harambe_did911 20h ago

Im sorry but this is really fucking stupid. Everything you said is demonstrably false. Strings attached? What strings is bill gates attaching? Self sufficiency? Besides them selling their mining rights away to Russia sure i guess. Do it themselves? Do it then, why haven't they? Because they can't, that's why. Its so incredibly stupid to think that they are going to get rid of stagnant water and spray pesticides to the point thay its effective. They were offered free help to alleviate suffering of their people by a charity and he refused it because he'd rather cozy up to Russia than take care of his country. You're a Russian bot for trying to defend it.

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u/rimshot99 22h ago

Bill Gates looking to disadvantage Burkina Faso is ridiculous. If they want a lab to make this stuff there, I’m sure he’d give it to them to get this over the finish line.

I think a more straightforward reason is that Bill Gates is not corrupt enough for these African leaders.

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u/cyber_bully 21h ago

If there’s another way to eliminate malaria how come nobody is doing it?

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u/Fairy-Smurf 17h ago

Are Russia’s influence and mercenaries also part of this self-sufficient policy? Or does it only apply when the “gifts” can actually save hundreds of thousands of ordinary lives instead of lining the pockets of those in power?

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u/Medical_Sector5967 13h ago

Pretty soon you can probably just teach a random mfer how to make this happen 

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u/BeardedDragon1917 13h ago

It would be great if the research foundations involved would publicize the DNA code and breeding protocols that they use to make these mosquitoes. I’m sure that Burkina Faso would be happy to use them if they were the ones breeding the mosquitoes and couldn’t have their supply cut off for political reasons later.

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u/mr_birkenblatt 21h ago

TIL Bill Gates is a western nation

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u/Designated_Lurker_32 20h ago

Okay, so basically, he's refusing help to protect his fragile ego. It's like when your dad refuses to ask directions when he's obviously lost, but on a national scale where thousands of lives are on the line.

Fuck this guy.

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u/RoundTableMaker 22h ago

Bill gates unfortunately is not a nation. So I don’t know where your soap box rant is coming from.

1

u/BeardedDragon1917 22h ago

No, Bill Gates is not a nation. Bill Gates is an American billionaire, once the richest man in the world, who runs an incredibly well funded and influential foundation that funds an enormous amount of scientific research. Committing your country to this program means committing to maintaining good relations with the United States (including Donald Trump) and with Bill Gates‘s foundation, and with Bill Gates. Africa realizes by now that these gifts are never freely given, and the threat of terminating the mosquito program could be used to extort future cooperation with the West.

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u/TracerBulletX 19h ago

The threat of terminating the thing is worse than never starting it?

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u/BeardedDragon1917 19h ago

Yes, getting your country to invest resources and time into a program that Trump or the GOP can just shut down is worse than developing their own program.

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u/RoundTableMaker 22h ago

The west doesn’t care about Burkina Faso. Bill Gates is just wants to use burkino faso for his science experiments.

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u/Asshai 22h ago

He's right though. It doesn't matter if Gates does so out of the kindness of his heart and foots the bill entirely, influence from other powers is what has plagued Africa since the colonial era. It's a bit of a "fool me once..." thing, some African States have a high level of mistrust against any Western organization. For example see here why African countries might mistrust even the WHO:

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/11/04/1133319628/african-scientists-say-western-aid-to-fight-pandemic-is-backfiring-heres-their-p

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u/RoundTableMaker 22h ago

After covid i don’t know why anyone trusts WHO. It’s not just Africa. These are all red herrings in the discussion though.

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u/BrazilianTerror 22h ago

Bill Gates also has his own agenda. See his other imperialist endeavors in Africa and you will know he is not looking after the good of the people. You know, he was against opening the patent for the covid vaccine,

7

u/RoundTableMaker 22h ago

I dont trust bill gates either but the idea that the west backs everything bill gates does is wild.

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u/trisul-108 22h ago

A pest control industry that poisons the environment with pesticides. Maybe his relative owns a pesticides factory, that sounds more like it.

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u/happyunicorn666 21h ago

Yeah but the genetic modification is a big part of it. It saves thousands of people ever year.

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u/Comprehensive_Web862 21h ago

What they really need is refrigeratation infrastructure first. There are growth regulators which that can keep larvae from becoming adults but it isn't shelf stable. Also the bigger pro of vaccines being more available.

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u/Vanaquish231 18h ago

What are the other solutions to reduce something as abundant as mosquitos?

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u/BeardedDragon1917 18h ago edited 18h ago

Habitat elimination, pesticides, predator introduction, and others. Other countries have eliminated malaria before the invention of this technology. And I’m not arguing that it’s bad technology, it’s actually very cool. However, using this system means depending on the United States to maintain their support and funding for the program, and not to use it as Leverage in future negotiations/demands. That is a mistrust born of decades of exploitative “aid” programs that end up forcing African nations into debt to and dependency on the West. And all of that was true before Donald Trump, by the way.

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u/Vanaquish231 18h ago

I mean taking a quick look at the map regarding malaria death rates, it doesn't look like its a great idea to refuse the modified mosquitos. Like if you read the article it says "ethical issues". I don't disagree that they are obviously not handing out for free the mosquitos, but when malaria is such an issue it seems stupid to play the bigger guy.

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u/NaziHuntingInc 17h ago

“If this coughing baby can disarm the nuclear bomb, then good for them”

1

u/One-Reflection-4826 17h ago

the fuck are you smoking?? were talking about one of the poorest nations on earth, now all of a sudden being able to eradicate malaria all on its own?? get tf outta here! 

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u/TheRealMylo 15h ago

Come on... traore is just another ruzzian puppet.

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u/michaelrox5270 14h ago

This isn’t a diplomatic deal though it’s a charity organization. Would that still apply as accepting a gift from a nation more powerful than you?

1

u/jf4v 12h ago

Except they can’t and won’t stop it themselves.

You’re applauding pride.

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u/AdAfraid3543 9h ago

Sound like our neighbour Pol Pot (I'm Vietnamese). GG to Burkinabé. Trading neo-colonialism for sth worse. Classic Africa

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u/Dirichlet-to-Neumann 7h ago

Of course, accepting gifts from Russia is fine. 

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u/Wealist 22h ago

Right /Traoré’s stance ties into sovereignty.

A local pest-control industry avoids dependency and the political strings foreign biotech would bring.

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u/GeronimoHero 22h ago

Bringing in Russia’s Wagner group sort of crushes your sovereignty argument

0

u/MeNamIzGraephen 21h ago

You make a good point. However a deal with the west to curb the mosquito population while you're developing your own solution can save a lot of lives.

0

u/PartyPorpoise 20h ago

Yeah I know a lot of African leaders and activists have been critical of African countries getting too dependent on outside help. I don’t know enough about this particular situation to say if he’s making the right decision, but on the surface I get it.

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u/happy_bluebird 22h ago

That makes sense, but it’s a big gamble for something as crucial as this.