Bill Gates has been known for his over-the-top antics to make a statement. It came as no surprise that he raised a few eyebrows recently after intentionally releasing some bugs to prove a point. However, the bugs he released were not the software kind but the insect kind.

During a Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference, Bill Gates released a jar full of mosquitoes onto the unsuspecting audience. He did this right after talking about how malaria is mostly spread by mosquitoes. Fortunately for the audience the mosquitoes were clean and did not carry any deadly diseases.

Gates was attempting to prove a point that giving computers to underdeveloped countries will not really help the population when they live in constant fear of diseases such as malaria. As Gates opened the jar full of mosquitoes he jokingly said, “There’s no reason only poor people should have the experience [malaria].” Apparently there was a bit of uneasiness from the audience from Gate’s stunt.

However, Gate’s message is clear; malaria is one of the worst killers in the world. Gates indicated that on average, 1 million children are infected with malaria per year. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is funding the development of a vaccine that could potentially combat malaria. According to Gates the vaccine is set to enter phase three testing.

In addition to his goal of eradicating malaria from the face of the Earth, another important goal of the foundation is education. It is interesting to see Gates taking such an active role as a philanthropist.  He seems like a man with a mission and wants to lead the effort instead of taking a back seat for the ride. It seems like he may have found a new calling after his long term stint as the CEO and master mind behind Microsoft.

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Entry was posted on Sunday, February 8th, 2009 at 11:08 pm under Health, Science and technology.

Read more entries by Mike Ferro.
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