Dennis Ashbaugh (previously) makes art exploring our human relationship to science, biotechnology and genetic research. He also doesn't like mosquitoes very much.

Serra, Andre, diSuvero, Judd, Heiser, and deMaria all have made great work in 3D. Also I had considered the 7 billion people on the planet, each of whom, has probably had the personal experience of being “bitten” by at least one mosquito and they could be a rather large audience for my work. I continued working on and refining the traps for two more years.

The mosquito traps are "ready," and can be viewed here.
posted by obscurator on Oct 16, 2011 - 10 comments

Australian scientists have successfully trialled a method for controlling Dengue fever that involves infecting populations of mosquitoes with an endosymbiotic bacteria. The bacteria kills non-infected mosquitoes that mate with an infected individual, is passed to offspring of an infected individual, and confers resistance to Dengue upon infected individuals. [more inside]
posted by Ahab on Aug 25, 2011 - 56 comments

It's been suggested that the humble mosquito is responsible for more deaths than all the wars combined. Scientists working at the Planck institute are hoping to change this by using the mosquitoes themselves as a way to administer a malaria vaccine. [more inside]
posted by quin on Oct 22, 2010 - 13 comments

Good Night and Tough Luck "Getting a good night’s sleep is actually a lot more complicated than one would think." An amusing look at the problems involved in getting a good night's sleep.
posted by nooneyouknow on Oct 22, 2009 - 62 comments

"The old distinction between mosquito territory and human territory – and the idea that the one can be reclaimed from the other – has collapsed. Now humans come first and mosquitoes follow." How the Asian tiger mosquito left the jungles of Southeast Asia to take over the world, one used tire at a time.
posted by sloweducation on Sep 27, 2009 - 12 comments

Malaria is one of the world’s most serious health problems. No single approach has yet to fully conquer either the disease or the disease vector, the mosquito. The most common electronic means of killing mosquitoes, the “bug zapper” is not particularly effective. Using lasers to kill mosquitoes has previously been thought of as completely ridiculous. Now the concept is being taken seriously.
posted by Tube on Mar 14, 2009 - 33 comments

Truce In their seminal paper "Flying in Tune: Sexual recognition in mosquitoes", Gabrielle Gibson and and Ian Russel from the University of Greenwich discovered an inspiring phenomenon: male mosquitoes change their buzzing frequency to match that of a female mosquito. This synchronization brings their wing beats to within a millisecond or less of one another. The authors suggest that this phenomenon facilitates the mosquitoes' ability to copulate mid-flight. We take advantage of this phenomenon to engage the mosquitoes in song, inspired by the North Indian classical vocal tradition of Dhrupad.
posted by mnology on Mar 3, 2009 - 14 comments

Lymphatic filariasis (or, more dramatically, "elephantiasis") is spread by mosquitoes. The mosquitoes transmit worms to your blood, the worms mate while you sleep, and their progeny travel to your lymph nodes to live a happy life. Unfortunately for you, the worms can get too big, allowing fluid to collect in your limbs or scrotum. Lucky for your neighbors, the disease can be controlled using salt. (China already did it).
posted by stemlot on Apr 28, 2006 - 9 comments

I wasn't aware that mosquitoes even had breasts.
posted by zenpop on Sep 28, 2002 - 10 comments