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Malaria breakthrough as scientists find ‘highly effective’ way to kill parasite

theguardian.com

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Re: Malaria breakthrough as scientists find ‘highly effective’ way to kill parasite

#81

Post by hubert1234 »

BurningFrog wrote: post #65
ses1984 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When we drove species to extinction before, it was accidental, and it's usually viewed as a huge mistake. I wouldn't want to be one of the people who advocates for it, and then it turns out to be a giant disaster. The potential risk seems huge and could affect generations. Although I it would be pretty easy to hedge against that risk by keeping some mosquitos/eggs alive in a lab, and if the experiment goes wrong, re-…

> and then it turns out to be a giant disaster The purpose of this is to stop the current giant disaster of 1000+ people a day dying from malaria. I can't help thinking that if this was affecting American middle class neighborhoods where environmentalists live, the mosquitos would be wiped out quicker than plastic straws.

Dont be so sure, I personally believe that alligators and crocodiles should be wiped out but the majority believes that the risk of being eaten alive during a swim in a pond nextdoor is an acceptable risk and the natural right of nature over humans. People have a weird disposition to protect nature beyond what is due. We effectively wiped out wolves from Europe and I personally couldnt be happier that I dont have to worry about a wolf attack or bear attack when I'm out in the forest, cycling.

Re: Malaria breakthrough as scientists find ‘highly effective’ way to kill parasite

#82

Post by mmsimanga »

eps wrote: post #76
mmsimanga wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for the link. I skimmed through it (not being a medical person myself). It is most definitely the closest formal confirmation of what I was told back then.

Unless you had newborn jaundice, which is unrelated to hepatitis and quite common.

I was probably between 5 and 7 years old. I remember because my village gang were fascinated with how yellow my urine was. It is the one time I can say I won the pissing contest :-).

Re: Malaria breakthrough as scientists find ‘highly effective’ way to kill parasite

#84

Post by iamkroot »

wolco wrote: post #73
mullingitover wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is just my interpretation, but it seems like there is a sensible portion of detractors who simply want to derisk the experiment as much as possible by collecting more and more data. This is so infuriating. Many people will die during this extended hemming and hawing. Humans have driven countless important species to extinction with no thought, but we have to vacillate over a species that is responsible for mor…

What makes you think they won't come back as bad or worse then before? That's what we did with antibiotics and we ended up with superbugs.

There cannot be any doubt that the world is in a better place because of the presence of antibiotics.

Re: Malaria breakthrough as scientists find ‘highly effective’ way to kill parasite

#87

Post by csunbird »

wolco wrote: post #78
BurningFrog wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Letting 1000+ people a day die is a non-destructive solution?

You could be killing 100,000 people a day if things go differently than you expect. Caution is in order.

I am not sure why this is downvoted, this is a legit point. If we eradicate mosquitos and they evolve to survive while creating another problem other than malaria, you literally can end up killing 100000 people every day instead of 1000.

Re: Malaria breakthrough as scientists find ‘highly effective’ way to kill parasite

#88

Post by Tharkun »

mmsimanga wrote: post #80
wolco wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you been tested for Gilbert's syndrome? They say it is a disease from natural selection from Malaria. All jaundice related conditions have a degree of protection against Malaria.

No never been tested for Gilbert's syndrome. I must confess I have never heard of it or anyone referring to it. > All jaundice related conditions have a degree of protection against Malaria. I guess this is the general advice I was given

Actual testing for Gilbert's isn't done all that often. It's usually diagnosed when otherwise healthy bloodwork shows elevated levels of unconjugated bilirubine. It's been shown to offer some protection against heart disease, and it can cause mild jaundice, and stools that are a bit more on the yellow side.

Re: Malaria breakthrough as scientists find ‘highly effective’ way to kill parasite

#89

Post by reportgunner »

tbabb wrote: post #22

This article is so bad it's basically saying nothing at all, and the headline is basically unsupported by the article. In fact, the quality/coherence of the whole thing seems to be about on par with those AI-generated articles from OpenAI a few months ago. This article shouldn't be here, let alone under this headline.

Thank you, I thought so when reading the title so I decided to see the comments if I'm right first.

Re: Malaria breakthrough as scientists find ‘highly effective’ way to kill parasite

#90

Post by bzbz »

iamkroot wrote: post #84
wolco wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you think they won't come back as bad or worse then before? That's what we did with antibiotics and we ended up with superbugs.

There cannot be any doubt that the world is in a better place because of the presence of antibiotics.

Why not? It’s not as if you have an omniscient point of view and the ability to see the future of both branches. There will always be doubt about complex, unsolvable scenarios.
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