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Life finds a way: gene hacking mosquitoes backfires spectacularly
- Thread starter Johnny Blaze
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Damn that's wild. I remember when this was just a moonshot idea for decimating mosquito populations... The RadioLab episode 'Kill Em All' was a good one. WOnder if they'll revisit it. Still, might be best also to wait more time before declaring it dead in the water.
We are really bad at playing gods with our environment. Why would this not have been tested in more controlled environments over time? 18 months is like 20+ generations so likely more than enough time for a resilient and numerous species to adapt - especially when its survival is at stake.
Given that this seems to have been poorly planned and executed, I am concerned that these people were unilaterally able to attempt to wipe out an entire species regardless of the impact on the environment.
Given that this seems to have been poorly planned and executed, I am concerned that these people were unilaterally able to attempt to wipe out an entire species regardless of the impact on the environment.
As far as I know, mosquitoes have been shown to not be particularly important to their ecosystems. The problem is that they fumbled the execution here
They should just try making all the mosquito offspring females. Then simply fill the DNA holes with that of a west african frog. Next time, it'll be flawless. When we have control...
But science is haaaard and I don't want to be itchy noooooooooowwwwwwwww :(
I wonder if it'd be easier to engineer mosquitos that were resistant to the diseases they spread, instead of trying to eradicate them
What we need to do is build self replicating mini robots that perpetually hunt and kill mosquitoes till they are all dead
Scientists are aware and have been upfront about the fact that unintended results may occur with actions like this.
Nobody is actually shocked about the outcome here.
Nobody is actually shocked about the outcome here.
The exact number depends on the species, but in general it wouldn't be all that many generations.
The misunderstanding here, from a quick reading, appears to be monstrously basic: massive numbers of mosquitoes reproduce, massive numbers of them die off (causing the initial drop), some percentage are randomly immune or the gene mutates or (as the report suggests) females begin to select for non-modified males, every mosquito that survives emerges into a mosquito wonderland where they are competing with far fewer mosquitoes, population bounces back. That can happen without needing many generations.
Nature hates it when you try to muck with her designs. Not that we haven't been doing so for centuries now.
I support the 100% eradication of all mosquitoes unequivocally
Easier said than done and that probably applies to most simple and highly adaptable organisms
Mosquitoes have been man's greatest predator since the dawn of our existence. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that we have yet to find a way to defeat them.
FYI, this article is entirely sourced from another outlet's article. This is what Futurism claims about the new mosquitos:
From the New Atlas article they took all their info from, this is what it says:
So this new superior genetically-modified superbug, is actually stronger only in the sense that with greater variety there are less single-avenue vectors that can take down whole populations.
Sensationalism of sensationalism of a scientific report.
From the New Atlas article they took all their info from, this is what it says:
So this new superior genetically-modified superbug, is actually stronger only in the sense that with greater variety there are less single-avenue vectors that can take down whole populations.
Sensationalism of sensationalism of a scientific report.
bats eat them. fish eat them, im sure other birds eat them. let their natural predators take care of them, isn't fucking up the climate enough?
I agree.
Only a matter of time before nature wipes us off this planet. We're a plague on this planet ourselves.
Yes, but it's not their main diet and studies show if they were to go extinct those animals would be fine.
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