Losing Fight Against Malaria: Think DDT

Scientists are losing the war against malaria and are desperately seeking a new tactic. From the story:

Faced with a losing battle against malaria, scientists are increasingly exploring new avenues that might have seemed far-fetched just a few years ago.

“We don’t have things we can rely on,” said Andrea Crisanti, the malaria expert in charge of genetically modifying mosquitoes at London’s Imperial College. “It’s time to try something else.”

Their desperate bid is genetic engineering. But that takes time with very uncertain results. But we do have something old we can—and should use starting today: DDT. It wiped out malaria in the USA and surely the human lives DDT could save are worth whatever perceived environmental harm spraying might cause.

The problem today, however, is that many environmentalists don’t put human flourishing first. Heck, as we have noted here, some want us to be eradicated instead of the mosquitoes.