Gene-ocide

IN A competition to find the world’s least-loved animal, the mosquito would be hard to beat. Only a few species of the insect carry the parasites that cause human diseases such as West Nile virus, dengue and yellow fever, but the harm they cause is enormous. Malaria kills more than 400,000 people, mostly children, every year. Zika has spread to dozens of countries (see ). If species such as and could be eradicated, the world would surely be a better place.