Imagine if dirty needles started flying around randomly targeting children. It constantly shocks me that mosquito eradication is controversial, let alone not one of the highest priorities of society.
I get the arguments for both sides. I’d like less people to die from mosquitoes as well. I’d also like bats, fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles, etc to have an abundant source of food.
Some people's attitude is that these people (poor, far away, 'wrong' skin colour, etc.) might as well die for our beloved Nature.
We know enough to do just that - surgical removal is exactly what the gene drive solutions do. Even if we didn't, mosquitos are minor compared to the species being killed merely for profit.
>Imagine if some alien race was like: "we need to kill all humans", and then proceed and eradicate all the apes and monkeys as well?
I'd be a bit more concerned about the human part. I don't think I'll be available to care about the apes and monkeys. (Besides, the aliens are just being thorough and rational, and decided to make sure that we don't get evolved again. +1 for the alien team).
We still don't know the long-term implications of CRISPR applications on the entire species. However, it's already underway. Scientists are doing it and studying them in a lab setting. There's hope.