[gldalmaso]

Honest question, won't the microorganisms that actually cause the disease adapt as well, perhaps jumping to another species of mosquito that is even more in contact with humans?

Do they depend on a specific characteristic of certain species of mosquitoes to thrive?

Is there zero chance that we won't end up spreading more Malaria? Or end up with something worse than Malaria?

[tralarpa]

Yes, could happen. The extermination of the host could put pressure on the parasite and favor mutations that give them the ability to live in other species of mosquitoes (which didn't happen in the past for whatever reason, for example because the mosquitoes transmitting Malaria were competitors to those other mosquitoes and displaced them).

We were not even able to predict the impact of some rabbits on the local fauna. Now we want to play with genes.

[clort]

I'd say though, that if the mosquitoes die off in approximately 10 generations then the parasites are likely to die with them rather than suddenly adapt where they never did before

[jessaustin]

That isn't how adaptation works. If Plasmodium could survive in other mosquitoes, it would do so already. It isn't limited to only one species, and scientists propose the extinction of all species that harbor this bacteria. Adapting to new environments is hard. Other mosquito species that feed on mammals have existed for millions of years. Whatever adaptations could have happened to allow the bacteria to survive in other vectors, have already happened. Bacteria don't have willpower; they're not going to tell themselves "Anopholes is dying out! Now we have to work really hard to colonize other mosquitoes!"

[petre]

They need to adapt rather quickly if the mosquito population collapsed in 8 to 11 generations during the trials. They also could have adapted in places where malaria was erradicated but did not.