What I've Learned

Throughout history, what has killed the most people? An easy answer would be stupidity. Another would be war. Then there's bad eating habits, tobacco, alcohol, and the automobile.

Add all these causes together and they don't match the number one killer.

Throughout history, most people have died from diseases spread by mosquitoes. Among those diseases are the big three: malaria, dengue, and yellow fever.

In the 1880s, mosquito control took a large step forward with the invention of window screens. This made a difference in some countries, like the U.S. and Great Britain, but not so much in tropical countries where most people couldn't afford decent houses, let alone screens to put in the windows.

Then a miracle happened. Dr. Paul Muller discovered that a synthetic insecticide, DDT, kills malarial mosquitoes. He was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

From 1950 to 1970, DDT was used to kill mosquitoes, and malaria took a nose dive. Here are some quotes from a 2002 news release by the American Council on Science and Health:

"In one of the most miraculous public health developments in history, Greece saw malaria cases drop from two million cases a year to close to zero, thanks to DDT.

"In India, malaria deaths went from nearly a million in 1945 to only a few thousand in 1960.

"In what is now Sri Lanka, malaria cases went from 2,800,000 in 1948, before the introduction of DDT, down to 17 in 1964."

DDT was banned in the U.S. in 1972 because of fears it would destroy not just mosquitoes, but nature itself and humans along with it. Rachael Carson's 1962 book, Silent Spring, helped fuel concerns that led to the ban.

Since then, the use of DDT throughout the world has been curtailed. And malaria has skyrocketed.

Remember how malaria cases in Sri Lanka were down to 17 in 1964? They were up to 2,500,000 in 1969, just five years after DDT use was discontinued there.

I'm not advocating that the ban on DDT be lifted. Though years of studies have indicated that DDT is not as harmful to nature or to humans as was feared, dumping tons of a persistent insecticide into the world's environment is probably not wise.

Because mosquitoes carry diseases that kill millions of people each year, finding a safe and effective way to control the disease-spreading pests should be a priority.

Some scientists have experimented with genetically modified mosquitoes. Because it is the female mosquito that bites, wanting protein to strengthen eggs she is about to lay, male mosquitoes were developed that are sterile. The males will mate with, but cannot impregnate the females. The females, having mated, won't mate again, but not being pregnant, won't bite.

Good idea. For it to work, scientists needed to create a lot of sterile males. Unfortunately, creatures born in a large, closed population tend to be what? Smaller.

When the males were released into the wild, they lost out in the mating game to larger natural rivals. In essence, the lab-produced males couldn't get a date. Bummer.

There's a lot of research money available these days, but not much of it goes to anti-mosquito efforts. Instead, it gets funneled into dang fool, useless – though politically sexier – areas.

This is stupid. Which, I guess, means that most people do actually die from stupidity.