Scientists are fond of saying all of the world's organisms form a web of life, and that when one species dies it sends cascade of negative jolts into the system. I have no problem with this.

But I nonetheless detest mosquitoes. They spread diseases like malaria and, more locally, West Nile virus. And they bite my kids, giving them nasty little welts.


Kill them all.
So what if we could get rid of them? Would it harm the whole web-of-life thing or could we make an exception for mosquitoes?

In a revealing analysis, Nature magazine put this very question to ecologists, asking them whether removing the some 3,500 species of mosquitoes from the planet would irreparably harm the world's fragile ecosystems.

The story's conclusion? No:

Scientists acknowledge that the ecological scar left by a missing mosquito would heal quickly as the niche was filled by other organisms. Life would continue as before -- or even better.

When it comes to the major disease vectors, "it's difficult to see what the downside would be to removal, except for collateral damage", says insect ecologist Steven Juliano, of Illinois State University in Normal.

A world without mosquitoes would be "more secure for us", says medical entomologist Carlos Brisola Marcondes from the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil. "The elimination of Anopheles would be very significant for mankind."

So let's do it. Ok, so that's easier said than done. But some smart people are working on it. I wish them luck.

Scientists acknowledge that the ecological scar left by a missing mosquito would heal quickly as the niche was filled by other organisms. Life would continue as before -- or even better.

sci·en·tist noun \ˈsī-ən-tist\
Definition of SCIENTIST

1: a person learned in science and especially natural science : a scientific investigator