00:00 Mosquitoes are humanity's greatest predator, transmitting deadly diseases like malaria and dengue fever, and their populations are increasing due to climate change, prompting scientists to develop a plan to combat them.

03:55 Scientists are working on population replacement and population suppression methods to prevent mosquitoes from transmitting deadly viruses, but the challenge is to ensure that the modified genes can spread quickly enough before the viruses evolve and render them obsolete.

08:41 The Pontine Marshes surrounding Rome played a significant role in preventing Hannibal of Carthage from successfully invading Rome during the Punic Wars due to the prevalence of malaria in the region.

13:15 The Pontine Marshes served as a biological moat protecting Rome from invaders, but eventually the mosquitoes and malaria took a toll on Rome itself, leading to the draining of the marshes by Mussolini to reclaim the land, only for the Nazis to reflood the marshes during World War II to slow down the Allied advance and reintroduce malaria to the region.

17:35 Malaria has been used as a weapon of war for millennia, and a genetic mutation that has been passed down for thousands of years still impacts people today.

22:08 The genetic adaptation of sickle cell in the Bantu population provided immunity to malaria, but also had fatal downsides, and when some of the Bantu were forcibly brought to the western hemisphere as enslaved people, the sickle cell trait came with them, changing the genetics of millions of people.

26:13 During the American Revolutionary War, General Cornwallis and his British soldiers struggled with malaria in the southern colonies, forcing them to adopt unusual tactics and search for healthy areas to rest and refit their troops.

30:22 General Cornwallis retreats to Yorktown in Virginia, where his troops are decimated by sickness, including malaria, leading to his surrender and the eventual formation of the United States.