Should We Kill Humanity’s Greatest Killer? The Ethics of Mosquito Eradication

Case Study PDF / Additional Cases

It is now within our power to eradicate humanity’s greatest killer: the mosquito. But should we exterminate another species to reduce human suffering?

Due to recent scientific advancements, mosquito eradication is a real possibility. Scientists have designed mutations that create sterile or mostly male offspring, which can dramatically decrease mosquito populations. Using CRISPR-Cas9 genetic technology, scientists can introduce these mutations into mosquito DNA. Normally, such genes would only have a 50% chance of being passed on to offspring, but scientists can increase this probability by using a “gene drive” (Adler, 2016). As a result, offspring receive the mutation regardless of which chromosome the parent passes on. With this mutation and gene drive pairing, the entire population will ultimately carry the mutation—and will speedily die.

On the one hand, many scientists argue that there are indisputable benefits to eliminating this dangerous animal. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, argues that eradication would greatly reduce human suffering. Mosquitoes kill an estimated 725,000 people annually, with hundreds of millions of others suffering from non-fatal illnesses spread by mosquitoes (Lee, 2014). For comparative purposes, only 475,000 people die annually at the hands of other humans (Fauci, 2016). On Fauci’s view, “These insects cause more disease and death than any other animal on the planet. Getting rid of them would be a blessing” (Fauci, 2016). The suffering caused by well-publicized tragedies such as school shootings pales in comparison to the suffering caused by mosquito-borne illnesses. By eliminating this tiny animal, we would save hundreds of millions of humans from death and suffering.

On the other hand, there are scholars who argue that it would be fundamentally wrong to eradicate this species because mosquitoes—like other living creatures—have value in themselves. Dr. Philip Cafaro and Dr. Richard Primack, in particular, argue that, “even one human-caused extinction is one too many” (Cafaro and Primack, 2014). Insofar as other species have a right to continued existence, they contend that “Human beings should preserve them whether or not it is convenient or economically beneficial for people” (Cafaro and Primack, 2014). From their perspective, it is wrong to deprive another species of life simply for our own selfish well-being.
 
With each major outbreak of mosquito-borne diseases like the Zika virus, it is only natural for humans to want to eradicate the source of the problem. Even so, as a species that has its own population control issues, it is worth also stopping to consider our place within the wider context of nature at large. Vox writer, Hope Reese, calls for our humility as a species on just that point. On her view, “We forget that we’re one animal of a ton that live on this planet, and we share our global village. Sometimes we’re driven by our own hubris to think we’re above other animals on the planet, which is not the case. [Mosquitoes] are reminders that we’re not as mighty as we may think we are” (Reese, 2019). Without mosquitoes, it is possible that our global population could spiral even further out of control. Although eliminating mosquitoes would reduce our present suffering, it could also lead to a future that is even more painful and challenging for our progeny.  

 

Discussion Questions: 

• What values are in conflict over the eradication of mosquitoes? What is worrisome about this eradication technology?
• Should we weigh the suffering of the current human population against the well-being of future generations to resolve this moral issue?
• Do mosquitoes have value in themselves as living creatures that humans must respect?
• Are we humans biased towards benefiting our species over the well-being of other species or the environment? If so, is this anthropocentrism ethically problematic in general? If so, why?

 

 

Further Information:

 
Adler, Jerry, “Kill All the Mosquitoes?!” Smithsonian.com, June 2016. Available at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/kill-all-mosquitos-180959069/
 
Bates, Claire, “Would it be wrong to eradicate mosquitoes?” BBC News Magazine, January 2016. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35408835
 
Cafaro, Philip, and Primack, Richard, “Species extinction is a great moral wrong.” Elsevier, February 2014. Available at: https://www.elsevier.com/connect/species-extinction-is-a-great-moral-wrong
 
Fauci, Anthony, “The great mosquito debate: Kill them.” Stat, March 2016. Available at: https://www.statnews.com/2016/03/30/mosquitoes-debate-eradicate/
 
Lee, Jolie. “Bill Gates: Mosquito Week is bigger deal than Shark Week.” USA Today, April 2014. Available at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/04/28/mosquito-week-bill-gates-malaria/8389935/
 
Reese, Hope, “Mosquitoes might be humanity’s greatest foe. Should we get rid of them?” Vox, August 2019. Available at: https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/8/13/20754834/mosquitoes-blood-type-zika-dengue
 
Zhang, Sarah, “No One Knows Exactly What Would Happen If Mosquitoes Were to Disappear.” The Atlantic, September 2018. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/09/mosquito-target-malaria/570937/
 

Authors:
 
Grace Leake & Alicia Armijo
The Ethics Project
University of Texas at Austin
January 14, 2020
 
https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/ethicsproject/

Image Credit: Public Health Image Library / CC0 1.0

Cases produced by The Ethics Project remain the intellectual property of The Ethics Project. They can be used in unmodified PDF form without permission for classroom or educational uses. Please e-mail us and let us know if you found them useful! For use in publications such as textbooks, readers, and other works, please contact The Ethics Project.