Comment by mellavora

Well if one of the above-linked articles on how mosquitos target humans is correct https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/28/7068387...

"genetically altered mosquitoes to block the activity of a specific olfactory receptor called Ir8a. The result was that female mosquitoes — which are the ones that suck blood — were no longer attracted to lactic acid, an important component of human sweat."

So if we could refine this just a little bit more, we could engineer mosquitos which don't bite humans. And put that into a gene drive.

Still scary as fuck to mess this deeply with nature (note: post-doc work on viral evolution), but this is a less severe change than sterility.