Eliminating Scotland’s midges
Biotechnology could, in principle, wipe out Scotland’s midges, but it would be extremely complex and would arouse opposition. There are a few biotechnological methods that could be used to control or even eradicate Culicoides impunctatus (the Highland midge):
Scientists could use CRISPR-based gene drive systems to spread a trait through a population that renders midges sterile or all-female. This has been demonstrated in mosquitoes for malaria control, but it is still experimental and controversial.
One of the major challenges is that midges are far less studied genetically than mosquitoes, so their genome would have to be mapped in detail. Gene drives can spread uncontrollably across borders, which might raise ecological and geopolitical issues.
The sterile insect technique (SIT) would require mass-rearing and sterilizing male midges, possibly with radiation, to release them into the wild. This works best for insects with limited dispersal and strong mating competitiveness, traits that midges somewhat have.
However, given the sheer population density of Scottish midges, estimated to be billions per summer, scaling SIT would be daunting and costly.
Microbial control could be used by engineering bacteria or fungi that specifically target midge larvae to help reduce populations locally. This would be more contained but likely only reduce populations, not eliminate them.
Midge eradication is technologically feasible in the long term, but the research and risk assessment would take time. But the prize would be the immense benefit to the Scottish economy.
Midges deter outdoor tourism, particularly in the Highlands and Islands. Estimates suggest midges cost Scotland’s tourism sector tens of millions of pounds per year. Visitors often shorten trips, avoid camping, or skip hiking or fishing because of them.
Outdoor workers in forestry, agriculture, and construction lose hours to midge avoidance. Reducing midges would directly boost efficiency and comfort.Midges do not transmit diseases like mosquitoes, but they cause severe irritation, allergic reactions, and widespread nuisance.
Midges are part of Highland food webs. Their larvae help decompose organic matter in peat soils, and adults feed birds and bats. Their removal could disruptthose systems, potentially interrupting biodiversity or peatland health. The plus side is that nature tends to fill vacant ecological niches, and other, non-biting, insects would expand to fill the niche that midges now occupy.
If ecological and ethical issues were safely managed, the economic benefit could be substantial, particularly for tourism and rural productivity.Biotechnology could eventually control or even wipe out Scotland’s midges, but the approach would need major scientific advances and careful ecological risk assessment. If done safely, it would almost certainly bring economic benefits, especially for tourism.
It would be challenge that Scottish biotech labs could meet. It would receive a kick start if Scottish patrons would between them put up the money as a prize to the scientists that achieve it. A million-pound prize would help, and the accrued benefits to the successful innovators would be enormous.
Madsen Pirie