• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Fed approves GMO mosquitos to fight Zika carrying ones.

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Lunar15

Member
I'm from Florida and I say kill them all!

anigif_enhanced-22590-1392959489-5.gif
 
B

besada

Banned
Flo_Evans said:
I also have to wonder how much of a threat this really is.

There are tons of viral infections you can get while pregnant that will fuck your baby up.

Look up toxoplasmosis and tell me should we eliminate cats?
Click to expand...
It's a lot easier to avoid cat excrement when pregnant than mosquitos. If cats routinely flew in the window and gave pregnant women toxoplasmosis, I imagine we'd reduce their numbers, too.
 
F

Flo_Evans

Member
7DollarHagane said:
Eradication of mosquitoes would probably be an ok thing for the world.

They don't seem to serve any ecological benefit like bees or other insects do, and just cause a lot of problems.

Like what is some other bug or amphibian getting from a mosquito that it can't just get from a fly or a beetle. Its just a tiny little flying bit or protein.
Click to expand...

This is false.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35408835

1st off, half the mosquitos don't even bite (males) they do infact pollinate plants. The dangerous ones actually protect the rainforests from destruction from humans.

To top it off this plan its highly unlikely to work except for on isolated islands where they can flood the market with genetically modified ones. Even if we could take them all out we have no idea what would fill that niche in the ecosystem, could be far worse.

So yeah this doesn't seem like a great idea.

besada said:
It's a lot easier to avoid cat excrement when pregnant than mosquitos. If cats routinely flew in the window and gave pregnant women toxoplasmosis, I imagine we'd reduce their
Click to expand...

my tinfoil hat might be a little tight but the zika fears seems pretty overhyped. Seems like a great opportunity to field test weaponized GMOs though...
 
H

Hades Hotgun

Banned
Flo_Evans said:
This is false.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35408835

1st off, half the mosquitos don't even bite (males) they do infact pollinate plants. The dangerous ones actually protect the rainforests from destruction from humans.

To top it off this plan its highly unlikely to work except for on isolated islands where they can flood the market with genetically modified ones. Even if we could take them all out we have no idea what would fill that niche in the ecosystem, could be far worse.

So yeah this doesn't seem like a great idea.



my tinfoil hat might be a little tight but the zika fears seems pretty overhyped. Seems like a great opportunity to field test weaponized GMOs though...
Click to expand...

From the article you posted...

About three million of these modified mosquitoes were released on to a site on the Cayman Islands between 2009 and 2010. Oxitec reported a 96% reduction in mosquitoes compared with nearby areas. A trial currently taking place on a site in Brazil has reduced the numbers by 92%.
Click to expand...

I think you should maybe consider just getting rid of the tin foil hat all together.
 
F

Flo_Evans

Member
Hades Hotgun said:
From the article you posted...



I think you should maybe consider just getting rid of the tin foil hat all together.
Click to expand...

Or you could keep reading..,

"The question is likely to remain hypothetical, whatever the level of concern over Zika, malaria and dengue. Despite the success of reducing mosquito numbers in smaller areas, many scientists say knocking out an entire species would be impossible.
"There's no silver bullet," says Hawkes. "Field trials using GM mosquitoes have been a moderate success but involved releasing millions of modified insects to cover just a small area.
"Getting every female mosquito to breed with sterile males in a large area would be very difficult. Instead we should be looking to combine this with other techniques."
 
F

FrenchMovieTheme

Member
Grug said:
SKINNER
Well, I was wrong. The lizards are a godsend.

LISA
But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?

SKINNER
No problem. We simply unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.

LISA
But aren't the snakes even worse?

SKINNER
Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.

LISA
But then we're stuck with gorillas!

SKINNER
No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.
Click to expand...

Came into the thread for this. Thank you
 
C

CornBurrito

Member
Flo_Evans said:
Or you could keep reading..,

"The question is likely to remain hypothetical, whatever the level of concern over Zika, malaria and dengue. Despite the success of reducing mosquito numbers in smaller areas, many scientists say knocking out an entire species would be impossible.
"There's no silver bullet," says Hawkes. "Field trials using GM mosquitoes have been a moderate success but involved releasing millions of modified insects to cover just a small area.
"Getting every female mosquito to breed with sterile males in a large area would be very difficult. Instead we should be looking to combine this with other techniques."
Click to expand...

Ok and? A solution that is 92% effective is better than one 0% effective.
 
B

Brenal

Member
this is not going to wipe out all of the mosquitoes, only the subspecies that carries the Zika virus, besides that subspecies was invasive in America to begin with.
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Flo_Evans said:
my tinfoil hat might be a little tight but the zika fears seems pretty overhyped. Seems like a great opportunity to field test weaponized GMOs though...
Click to expand...

Are you okay with just eliminating mosquitoes from places where they are an invasive species anyway?

(which is a lot of places)
 
F

Flo_Evans

Member
Rentahamster said:
Are you okay with just eliminating mosquitoes from places where they are an invasive species anyway?

(which is a lot of places)
Click to expand...

I'm mean sure. I'm even for controlling them around population centers.

I just think "kill them all! worthless creatures!" is alarming, and worry about the effects of dumping millions of GMO on an ecosystem.

We just don't have a very good track record with maintaining balance.
 
A

A Fish Aficionado

I am going to make it through this year if it kills me
It isn't killing them all, just a reduction of an invasive species.

This has been said over and over again.
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Flo_Evans said:
I'm mean sure. I'm even for controlling them around population centers.

I just think "kill them all! worthless creatures!" is alarming, and worry about the effects of dumping millions of GMO on an ecosystem.

We just don't have a very good track record with maintaining balance.
Click to expand...

The article you quoted is somewhat strawmanny in the sense that the "gotta kill 'em all" side doesn't want to kill EVERY single mosquito species on the planet. Of course that's ridiculous. Of course there are many varieties that aren't even biting.

Invasive species eradication as well as eradication around human-controlled areas is a priority, and in that context, mosquitoes are pretty worthless creatures. Global eradication of all mosquito species is another thing entirely. A good point of communication is to not argue against caricatures of what the other side is trying to say.

Regarding the GMO aspect - it's benign. The genes do not persist anyway.

You're right that historically, we don't have a good track record of maintaining balance. We've come a long way in our understanding of things, however, and the transgenic mosquito technique is a lot more refined than the cane toad technique.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom