Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

csiro.au

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 285 posts

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#51

Post by everdev »

subpixel wrote: post #48

I’m not a zealot on the subject but I do believe some form of equally-distributed sterilization is the only way the human race can be saved from itself. That’s a very hard conversation I’d like to see broached.

I'll bite. By equally distributed, do you mean random? Sure, you can control population that way, but not without brutal authoritarianism, depriving innocent people of their reproductive rights and invasion of their body.

If you mean non-random, then who decides? Morality, productivity and purpose are culturally and individually relative. Having the majority or even a powerful minority decide what future children should be born is even more authoritarian than the first approach.

If you're worried about the planet not being able to support too many people, there are many other options that promote kindness, respect and privacy while promoting a sustainable environment.

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#52

Post by senorjazz »

scythe wrote: post #45
beauzero wrote: post #27

I have one question...can we do this with fire ants?

Ants actually serve a purpose in the ecosystem. Mosquitoes are unique in that many ecologists believe mosquito eradication would not adversely affect other species.

Dragon flies love to eat them.

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#53

Post by everdev »

billions wrote: post #50

It is theorized there is no adverse effect from killing mosquito species. There is always a counter-effect. Typically it's unpredictable. Mosquitoes FACILITATE transmission of bad stuff. I believe that if bad stuff is not transmitted, species evolve more slowly against pathogens. Species will still be exposed, maybe generations later through a scratch or otherwise. At that point, having never evolved a strong immune…

I remember this was the big debate several years ago when the idea was first promoted. However, Google and some non-profits appear to be moving ahead with the blessing of local governments. I'm assuming that with the relatively short lifespan of mosquitos and birds, we'll be able to see if there's an unintended chain reaction in these local ecosystems in a few years time.

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#54

Post by thaumasiotes »

senorjazz wrote: post #52
scythe wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ants actually serve a purpose in the ecosystem. Mosquitoes are unique in that many ecologists believe mosquito eradication would not adversely affect other species.

Dragon flies love to eat them.

Humans love to eat wheat, but we wouldn't starve if all the wheat was gone.

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#56

Post by thaumasiotes »

iknowstuff wrote: post #38
panarky wrote: post #36

The 20% that survived are immune to this and will now multiply unchecked.

It's not a virus. Rather than being immune, they might have managed to avoid mating with the altered mosquitos (by chance apparently, as there seems to be no perceptible difference) - for now. Antiretrovirals fight HIV by blocking its multiplication in multiple ways, such that the virus would have to mutate in a few particular ways simultaneously to survive, which is extremely unlikely. Perhaps the mosquitos could be…

What happens by chance in the first generation will happen by design in later generations. Unless the altered mosquitoes differ from normal ones in a new and unpredictable way every generation from now to the end of time, they will eventually be detected and avoided.

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#57

Post by AceJohnny2 »

subpixel wrote: post #48

I’m not a zealot on the subject but I do believe some form of equally-distributed sterilization is the only way the human race can be saved from itself. That’s a very hard conversation I’d like to see broached.

It's tough when the cancer is sentient, distributed, and has a sense of morality.

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#58

Post by jacquesm »

subpixel wrote: post #48

I’m not a zealot on the subject but I do believe some form of equally-distributed sterilization is the only way the human race can be saved from itself. That’s a very hard conversation I’d like to see broached.

It's not just a hard conversation, it is an impossible conversation.

The only viable avenue is education and even then life is very much geared to beget more of it. And that's before we get into life extension.

The better alternative is to get off the planet. The only reason we are exhausting the planet is because there is more of us every day and the same amount of planet to be divided.

Or there might be some man made or natural disaster around the corner, one thing is for sure: it will not continue this way for much longer.

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#59

Post by maxerickson »

billions wrote: post #50

It is theorized there is no adverse effect from killing mosquito species. There is always a counter-effect. Typically it's unpredictable. Mosquitoes FACILITATE transmission of bad stuff. I believe that if bad stuff is not transmitted, species evolve more slowly against pathogens. Species will still be exposed, maybe generations later through a scratch or otherwise. At that point, having never evolved a strong immune…

Wiping out malaria is likely to do just that (wipe out malaria).

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#60

Post by jazoom »

cimmanom wrote: post #46

How long did they measure this for, and how long is that relative to the lifecycle / reproductive cycle of a mosquito? Is there any reason to believe the mosquito population won't quickly (or if not quickly, then eventually) bounce back?

Considering this is a trial I assume they'll be monitoring that.
Post reply on HN