WEBVTT - Fighting Malaria with Drones

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<v Speaker 1>Hovering above the landscape in Africa are a small fleet

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<v Speaker 1>of drones. Their mission seek out the places where mosquitoes

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<v Speaker 1>lay their eggs. It's all in an effort to wipe

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<v Speaker 1>out malaria. I'm Jonathan Strickland, and this is tech stuff. Daily,

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<v Speaker 1>drones get a lot of bad press. It's understandable because

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<v Speaker 1>there's a lot of potential to misuse the technology, either

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<v Speaker 1>by accident or on purpose. There are stories of people

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<v Speaker 1>flying drones where they shouldn't, such as near airports or

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<v Speaker 1>over crowds of people. There are news items about privacy

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<v Speaker 1>concerns and people using drones to spy on neighbors. And

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<v Speaker 1>of course there are the stories of weaponized drones that

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<v Speaker 1>can be operated from hundreds of miles away to fire

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<v Speaker 1>upon targets that may or may not actually be the enemy.

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<v Speaker 1>But there are some great stories out there about people

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<v Speaker 1>using drones to benefit humanity. This is one of those.

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<v Speaker 1>Andy Hardy wrote a piece for fizz org that the details.

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<v Speaker 1>Hardy and his colleagues have started using drones and Zanzibar

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<v Speaker 1>to help local officials identify mosquito breeding grounds. Mosquitoes can

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<v Speaker 1>carry malaria and transmit it to humans. The actual carrier

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<v Speaker 1>is a parasite. The parasites enters the mosquito and then

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<v Speaker 1>can transfer to a human host when the adult mosquito

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<v Speaker 1>feeds on a person. Malaria is a serious disease. Initial

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<v Speaker 1>symptoms can include fever, chills, and other flu like symptoms.

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<v Speaker 1>The real danger is that malaria can develop serious and

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<v Speaker 1>even deadly complications. In there were an estimated two hundred

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<v Speaker 1>twelve million cases of malaria according to the Centers for

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<v Speaker 1>Disease Control and Prevention. More than four hundred twenty nine

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<v Speaker 1>thousand people died from malaria. Most of those were children.

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<v Speaker 1>In Africa, modern techniques like mosquito nets and insecticides have

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<v Speaker 1>helped reduce infection rates dramatically over the last few years.

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<v Speaker 1>According to Hardy, some areas of Zanzibar have seen prevalence

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<v Speaker 1>rates drop from down to one percent due to these initiatives,

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<v Speaker 1>but not all areas can benefit from these approaches, and

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<v Speaker 1>Hardy thinks drones can help reduce malaria infection rates even more.

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<v Speaker 1>The drones wouldn't be going on some sort of mosquito

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<v Speaker 1>zapping rampage, though that would be cool. Instead, a human

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<v Speaker 1>operator would fly the drone over a region in an

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<v Speaker 1>effort to identified bodies of water that could be prime

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<v Speaker 1>mosquito breeding grounds. These are typically still bodies, such as

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<v Speaker 1>a roadside culvert or rice paddies. Some of these may

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<v Speaker 1>be well known to locals, but Africa is a big

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<v Speaker 1>place and it's not exactly easy to survey on foot.

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<v Speaker 1>The team plans on using drones to map out regions

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<v Speaker 1>and seek out these bodies of water during mosquito breeding seasons.

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<v Speaker 1>They can deploy drones near malaria hotspots as they pop

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<v Speaker 1>up and locate targets. Then locals can travel to those

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<v Speaker 1>locations and use larva sides to treat the water, killing

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<v Speaker 1>the larvae before they have a chance to mature to

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<v Speaker 1>full grown mosquitoes. According to Hardy, the process is quick

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<v Speaker 1>and efficient. It takes about twenty minutes for an operator

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<v Speaker 1>to use a drone to conduct a survey of a

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<v Speaker 1>thirty hectare rice patty that's equivalent to about seventy four

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<v Speaker 1>acres of land. The larva sides will be low toxicity

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<v Speaker 1>chemicals to reduce the chance of ecological damage or human harm.

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<v Speaker 1>That's a big change from a few decades ago, when

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<v Speaker 1>dangerous chemicals like DDT were the ones we'd rely upon.

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<v Speaker 1>The team is also aware of the potential problems of drones.

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<v Speaker 1>One of those is getting locals to trust the technology.

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<v Speaker 1>Hardy says an effective approach is to invite people to

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<v Speaker 1>watch as an operator pilots of drone over an area.

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<v Speaker 1>People can witness the drone launching, look at monitors showing

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<v Speaker 1>a live camera feed from the drone as it moves

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<v Speaker 1>over the area, and view the drone as it returns

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<v Speaker 1>and lands. The team also plans to educate people about

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<v Speaker 1>privacy concerns and responsible methods of drone operation to head

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<v Speaker 1>off any potential misuse before it can happen. That includes

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<v Speaker 1>learning how to avoid situations that could lead to collisions

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<v Speaker 1>with other aircraft or actions that might harm local wildlife.

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<v Speaker 1>The team also wants to develop apps that can coordinate

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<v Speaker 1>between surveyors and teams deploying larva side to bodies of water.

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<v Speaker 1>As each team makes progress, they can update the app

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<v Speaker 1>and coordinate their efforts. This will make the entire approach

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<v Speaker 1>more effective and efficient. Ultimately, that should translate into an

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<v Speaker 1>affordable approach that can reduce malaria infection rates in areas

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<v Speaker 1>that are otherwise in danger. Drones aren't the only technology

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<v Speaker 1>people hope to use in the fight against mosquito born infections.

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<v Speaker 1>There are some research firms working with genetically modified mosquitoes

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<v Speaker 1>in an effort to reduce or wipe out diseases like

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<v Speaker 1>the Zyca virus. In this approach, scientists create modified mosquito

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<v Speaker 1>DNA and injected into eggs containing what will become a

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<v Speaker 1>male mosquito. Male mosquitoes don't bite humans, but what they

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<v Speaker 1>will do is seek out mates. When these lab altered

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<v Speaker 1>mosquitoes mate with wild female mosquitoes, they produce eggs that

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<v Speaker 1>have some of this altered DNA, which will prevent those

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<v Speaker 1>eggs from ever developing into adult mosquitoes. Over time, this

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<v Speaker 1>could lead to a big drop of mosquito populations, reducing

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<v Speaker 1>the prevalence of illnesses as a byproduct. In the future,

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<v Speaker 1>will likely use a suite of strategies to fight off

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<v Speaker 1>mosquitoes and prevent or cure the illnesses they transmit. That's

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<v Speaker 1>some news that you might find soothing, particularly if mosquitoes

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<v Speaker 1>find you to be delicious. That's all for today. To

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<v Speaker 1>learn more about how technology can help us prevent disease,

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<v Speaker 1>boost our abilities, or just let us play a video game,

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