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CRISPR machines that can wipe out entire species

cnet.com

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Re: CRISPR machines that can wipe out entire species

#51

Post by TheHypnotist »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #38
nkozyra wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's just say it's been pretty reliably proved over time.

Wiping out smallpox seems to have no negative side effects. In any case, side effects that might exist are hugely less problematic than millions of human deaths!

The discussion isn't about wiping out a disease, it's about wiping out a species to wipe out a disease. Smallpox was eliminated in large part due to vaccination, not wiping an animal or insect from the face of the planet.

Now, if you can eliminate the malaria within the mosquito, that's something else entirely.

Re: CRISPR machines that can wipe out entire species

#52

Post by vinniejames »

Insanity wrote: post #36

It's horrible that people are dying because of malaria. I'm a bit divided on this approach though, I don't know enough about the topic at hand to suggest a different approach, but let me try. Would it be feasible to suggest using CRISP to create another adaptation to the gene, one that preserves the mosquitoes but makes them unable to transfer the disease to humans? Eliminating a species because we don't like it remi…

Sounds like youre suggesting creating a mosquito malaria vaccine

Re: CRISPR machines that can wipe out entire species

#53

Post by Insanity »

vinniejames wrote: post #52
Insanity wrote: post #36

It's horrible that people are dying because of malaria. I'm a bit divided on this approach though, I don't know enough about the topic at hand to suggest a different approach, but let me try. Would it be feasible to suggest using CRISP to create another adaptation to the gene, one that preserves the mosquitoes but makes them unable to transfer the disease to humans? Eliminating a species because we don't like it remi…

Sounds like youre suggesting creating a mosquito malaria vaccine

Not entirely - I'm suggesting still altering the species but not with extinction as a consequence.

Re: CRISPR machines that can wipe out entire species

#54

Post by rincebrain »

fiblye wrote: post #32
peteretep wrote: post #2

ITT: people who live in countries that aren’t ravaged by malaria share their vague feelings of doubt about whether or not getting rid of mosquitos is a good idea

In a world where total insect population collapse is a very real possibility, there exist people who think calling out people who want to not exterminate a cornerstone insect species is a good idea. Before anybody says "well actually there was a study that said nothing bad would happen", the horribly flawed studies about wiping out mosquitoes being harmless acts under the assumption that animals that feed off mosquit…

TBF to humanity, we're also trying to develop effective malaria treatments, but AIUI:

- there are several parasites that fall into that umbrella

- none of them give you permanent immunity or even permanent resistance to reinfection, so we can't crib from those metaphorical notes to find a good vaccine

- the parasites are developing drug resistance/immunity

So while I agree we should be extremely careful about even considering wiping out a species on purpose, it's not for lack of exploring other options that we're at this point.

Re: CRISPR machines that can wipe out entire species

#55

Post by shireboy »

Insanity wrote: post #36

It's horrible that people are dying because of malaria. I'm a bit divided on this approach though, I don't know enough about the topic at hand to suggest a different approach, but let me try. Would it be feasible to suggest using CRISP to create another adaptation to the gene, one that preserves the mosquitoes but makes them unable to transfer the disease to humans? Eliminating a species because we don't like it remi…

The article mentions they tried to engineer mosquitos to not carry malaria, but it made them weak and so natural selection favored the non-engineered mosquitoes.

As for the rest, yeah tricky business. By all accounts we have more value than a mosquito, but as you move up the food chain what are the unintended consequences?

Re: CRISPR machines that can wipe out entire species

#56

Post by sampo »

TheHypnotist wrote: post #51
LeifCarrotson wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wiping out smallpox seems to have no negative side effects. In any case, side effects that might exist are hugely less problematic than millions of human deaths!

The discussion isn't about wiping out a disease, it's about wiping out a species to wipe out a disease. Smallpox was eliminated in large part due to vaccination, not wiping an animal or insect from the face of the planet. Now, if you can eliminate the malaria within the mosquito, that's something else entirely.

Smallpox was a species, too. If we allow viruses to be species.

Re: CRISPR machines that can wipe out entire species

#57

Post by Dylan16807 »

petters wrote: post #13
wuschel wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Classical ad hominem argument . Attack the people who make the immoral choice of thinking about the fact instead of blindly going forward and doing it, regardless of the cost. Perhaps it is worth to consider carefully before eradicating a species by any means? And perhaps it is worth to consider using a domain of technology - biotechnology - we have yet to understand better? Every tool comes with it's price, and so d…

If importing rabbits to Australia would have saved 500,000 lives annually, it would have been one of the best health-related things to happen to humanity. (The eradication of this particular mosquito species is likely harmless, but that does not matter. We should do it even if it isn't)

> We should do it even if it isn't

That depends on the level of risk to other species, in case these genes leak across some barrier.

Which might be fine, but you need to, uh, check.

Re: CRISPR machines that can wipe out entire species

#58

Post by sampo »

Haga wrote: post #11
nkozyra wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you've been personally affected by malaria your immediate impulse is do whatever it takes to stop it. But we know nothing comes for free, no good human deed goes unpunished. There's a lot of debate about whether destroying malaria-carrying mosquitoes would have any side effects whatsoever. Alternately, it may have some. I don't think your characterization is fair, in other words. Those of us in areas not immediate…

Can't we at least have backup plan to reintroduce?

Reintroduce malaria?

Re: CRISPR machines that can wipe out entire species

#59

Post by skolsuper »

krageon wrote: post #31
amelius wrote: post #6

Frightening question: what if this technology could be targeted not at species, but at races?

I've seen very few countries of note (aside from the US) that use "race" as any kind of indicator. This has a very good reason: It's not a clear biological separation and it also otherwise has little bearing on reality. It's an old, obsolete carry-over that was kept from the days when racism was still an accepted practice and it needs to die the death that it deserves as soon as possible.

I'm really struggling to understand your first sentence. Are you saying people generally aren't racist outside the US? Because my experience has been very, very different (and that's as a white male)
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