Off The News: Lab-raised mosquitoes to the rescue

Endangered Hawaiian honeycreepers on the high slopes of Haleakala are under threat of extinction. A plan to reduce the mosquito population in their East Maui habitat, decreasing the deadly toll of avian malaria, is one of the last, best options to protect them.

Using a breeding technology developed decades ago and $14 million in federal funding, state and federal officials will release millions of laboratory-raised male mosquitoes that are unable to breed with the malaria-carrying mosquitoes, interfering with the reproductive cycle and reducing mosquito populations. Time to put aside unfounded fears and proceed.