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/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