First off, just like Bill Gates, I am not a mosquito expert, nor a doctor, and hold zero degrees in biology or any part of the pharmaceutical realm. I'm just a man who makes art and music. I would, however, say that my inquisitive nature likes to delve into the cogs in the great wheel. I like to study how things turn, evolve, and inform my own selfhood in the process. In that vein, I have a few questions about these Modified Mosquitoes that seem to go quite unanswered, while in some other areas of the world, this lack of answer may spell trouble. That's my disclaimer. Now read on, my friends...
There's quite a bit of talk about these Bill Gates' modified mosquitoes. Some say that their release in Florida and the subsequent cases of Malaria there are interconnected (no real proof of this). While I personally would welcome a study to see if there is some correlation between modified mosquitoes and cases of Malaria outbreaks, the facts do seem to give Billy a pass.
For starters, the mosquitoes that are purportedly released are male, and they do not bite humans. What they do is mate with the females to pass on a parasite that will inhibit viruses that are harmful to us. This tiny parasite that's embedded within these male mosquitoes is called Wolbachia. Sounds like a terrible name for a band, and yet there is one on BC (no joke).
What's interesting? The modified Mosquitoes are claimed to be harmless. Indeed, they do not pose a threat directly to humans because they do not bite. What they DO is rather interesting. They release Wolbachia into the Females, which will then prevent viruses from spreading through the female bite. The female mosquitoes, now infected with Wolbachia, basically inhibit Dengue and Zika viruses. The female then passes Wolbachia into the eggs so future generations will carry the parasite from birth. Sounds very promising for sure. I mean, what better way to deliver a vaccine of sorts?
What happens when mosquitoes filled with Wolbachia bite us? Hmm. The trail seems to go cold on that front. Nearly every article touts Wolbachia as a miracle of nature, ridding us of viruses forever! So I did a little bit of digging. But the gist of it is this: If the female bites a human, Wolbachia is transmitted to us in small amounts. And we may already have some of these in us. The harm is literally zero. Here in the States that is. And is this Wolbachia harmful? Try searching and you will turn up various papers and articles espousing the benefits of Wolbachia to prevent the spread of viruses, even in humans. Very little is said about Wolbachia itself or what role it plays when humans are infected by it (meaning that there's an uncontrolled overgrowth). Waters seem murky on this front. Try it.
Well... As it turns out, Wolbachia is what worm parasites feed on (and poop) that cause onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) in humans. The best remedy to get rid of River Blindness? Eliminate the Wolbachia. What helps with this? Ivermectin (of course) and Doxycycline. 
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6755775/ is a paper on Wolbachia and the making of a consortium to fight it (so it is bad, then?)... What I found interesting, is that these two drugs were 'concerning' because it might be possible for future strains of Wolbachia to be resistant to them. So much so, that a consortium was created to address this issue in 2007. Enter A-WOL...
A-WOL states: The anti-Wolbachia consortium (A-WOL) was founded in 2007 with the objective to identify new anti-Wolbachia drugs (implying Wolbachia is bad) that are safe to the contraindicated groups and could be administered on a large scale with a shorter course of treatment. From a total of 2,773 compounds screened from the registered drugs, 121 had anti-Wolbachia activity wherein only four compounds were orally available and superior to doxycycline with minocycline showing the greatest potential. So we have basically four candidates to fight this if it all goes wrong...
But who created this consortium? Let's see. Searching, searching, searching, and... Oh. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation of course. This is where things get wild in the Wait This Looks Funny Department or WTLF.
Let's think about this for a few minutes. We do not know for certain what amounts of Wolbachia female mosquitoes will transmit to humans, and if they do, the harm is minimal to humans (most papers say so with little citing of any sources or studies on the subject). However, a person infected with Wolbachia is concerning enough because the worms that cause river blindness FEED on and POOP it, so we have an entire consortium called the ANTI-WOLBACHIA or A-WOL (that in and of itself is rather interesting a name) that is dedicated to fighting the bacteria because it is petfood/poop for dangerous parasites. And, the most widely used medication is currently demonized (and very expensive now) in lieu of the 121 drugs they are currently working on for Bill's foundation, of which only 4 are promising. You tell me how this sits in your gut (pun intended).
If I were to entertain a tinfoil hat theory, I would say that a populace of humans filled with a harmless bacteria that makes food and poop for worms that cause river blindness is rather concerning (particularly when one of the medications is now quite expensive due to the controversy over it during Covid (that being Ivermectin). And if there were an uptick in river blindness, who benefits from a new cure now that Ivermectin has such a negative spin on it due to said C19? Hint: Bill Gates and the 121 versions he can sell to Africa as he tests them on the populace (Big Pharma has done this illegally before).
But don't worry. Experts say that onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) are not HERE in the Western world, and your only risk of contagion is from having visited places where it occurs, such as Africa for example. My question is... What happens when we give the worms their pet food in AFRICA? Has anyone answered this question? Not that I could see. Prove me wrong. I welcome it. But this is basic maths: More Wolbachia in Africa means more river blindness and new versions that would be resistant to current medicine... Leaving the populace what solutions?
Wolbachia may indeed be harmless on its own in humans, but if you were to be infected by parasites, that harmless bacteria is now pet food for your worms. And you would be paying a higher price for the cure (while it works, that is). If there's one thing we've seen from the pandemic, profits will be made on any front possible. And I'm actually an optimist!
While one living in the United States may not be at risk for river blindness (unless you visited regions where it is prevalent), an estimated 18 – 37 million people have onchocerciasis (river blindness). Up to 2 million people are visually impaired or blind as a result of their infection. So it isn't much to laugh at if these numbers should rise, which is the reason, one would presume, that A-WOL exists. What accountability exists that there will be ZERO modified females in the batch (since there have been experiments with Female Mosquitoes and they DO bite)?
Do you see an imbalance or am I to be accused of being simple-minded with my questions?
These questions remain unanswered. What does a possible build-up of Wolbachia in the US populace look like? What else in nature besides deadly parasites eat or kill Wolbachia? Are there computer models of this possibility when releasing modified bugs? And can we catch onchocerciasis from policies that are not up to date when it comes to immigration from naturally affected areas?
These may be uncomfortable subjects to broach at the dinner table, but they need to be addressed as it is the government's job to protect its citizens. What I personally find deplorable is the idea that WE cannot vote on such things as modified organisms because we are not trained to know better. We the people are not experts. I find that excuse to be really telling of what our leaders think of their people, honestly.
Overall, I do think the promise of ridding the world of dangerous viruses such as Dengue and Zika is a great thing. And like all things biological and microbial, there must ALSO be measures in place to oversee the way these "miracle agents" are delivered, as well as the possible unintended consequences of shoddy measures by corporations with their eye on the bottom line. And finally, there is a question in my mind, forming on the nature of modified Females that do bite, because then we are talking about the right of consent by humans to know what drugs are being delivered to us via living needles. It's a serious enough issue. How can I opt out when I say no? Wear a netted full-body outfit? Spray myself with Tea Tree oil everywhere I go?
But look, so far as Malaria is concerned, the modified mosquitoes will not bite you or cause it. But are you satisfied with that answer on its own merit? Let me know what you think.
All Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/onchocerciasis/health_professionals/index.html
https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/river-blindness-onchocerciasis
https://www3.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13607:onchocerciasis-in-the-americas-factsheet-health-workers&Itemid=0&lang=en#gsc.tab=0
https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1756-3305-4-205
https://idpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40249-018-0473-9
https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/pearg/2018/04/13/wolbachia-bacteria-in-action-how-were-using-naturally-occurring-bacteria-to-stop-mosquitoes-from-spreading-disease/
https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/pearg/2018/04/16/the-wolbachia-pandemic-symbionts-spread-rapidly-across-highly-diverged-flies/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51472193OnchocerciasistheRoleofWolbachiaBacterialEndosymbiontsinParasiteBiologyDiseasePathogenesisandTreatment
https://veteriankey.com/the-role-of-wolbachia-in-heartworm-infection/ (in cats, but very interesting as it pertains to parasites feeding on and resulting in higher infection rates for cats)
Proof that science does play with modified FEMALE MOSQUITOES:
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/engineering-malaria-resistance-mosquitoes