Is this comparable to what is explained in this kurzgesagt video? https://youtu.be/TnzcwTyr6cE
750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
81–90 of 159 posts
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#82Whenever this comes up I always find it interesting that nobody comments on the now 60-year ongoing program that eradicated the screwworm fly from the US by doing pretty much the same thing: releasing millions of genetically altered (sterilized by radiation!) screwworms that mate with the native population. I have no comment on the positive or negative outcomes of the environmental modifications that both programs ca…
Could we do the same for ticks?
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not to sound condescending but I think we have yet to observe radiation leading to useful mutation. Radiation does not lead to 'mutation' in the sense of what you are implying. Rather it leads to DNA damages (breakage of chemical bonds) which usually leads to cancer.
Radiation increases mutation rates. Natural mutations occur through not vastly different mechanisms either. In case you think no positive mutations come out of it; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation_breeding We literally blasted plants with radiation and then bred the ones that looked like they had some positive mutations. Especially the list of notable results is interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutati…
You are definitely right, but I probably should have specified. Irradiating seeds is vastly different than irradiating already living specimen, and hardly transferable to insects I believe.
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
Radiation increases mutation rates. Natural mutations occur through not vastly different mechanisms either. In case you think no positive mutations come out of it; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation_breeding We literally blasted plants with radiation and then bred the ones that looked like they had some positive mutations. Especially the list of notable results is interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutati…
You are definitely right, but I probably should have specified. Irradiating seeds is vastly different than irradiating already living specimen, and hardly transferable to insects I believe.
Irradiating the entire specimen is not so different if you also irradiate the part of them that produces the seed. You're just irradiating an earlier stage of reproduction, the result is unlikely to be different. Seeds have the advantage that they do not move and contain little water that could interfere with the radiation. The insect will produce it's own seed once irradiated, infertile or not.
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-49660-6#Sec10 This study is interesting. It relates to the company and what happened to the mosquitoes when they tested it in Brazil and Malaysia. TLDR: Mosquito population became suppressed at first but rebounded to pre-release levels and some carried the genetics of the GM mosquitoes (3% survival rate and can reproduce), unknown implications of hybrid vigor. "However, it i…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-62398-w The Editors are issuing an Editorial Expression of Concern for this Article. Shortly after publication of this Article in September 2019, the Editors were alerted to concerns regarding the interpretation of the data and some of the conclusions. Specific concerns include: - the title does not make it clear that the authors only examined genomes of specimens that lacke…
Thanks for this. One of the reasons why I love HN. The points are not only interesting but provide useful information to the discussion.
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#86Whenever this comes up I always find it interesting that nobody comments on the now 60-year ongoing program that eradicated the screwworm fly from the US by doing pretty much the same thing: releasing millions of genetically altered (sterilized by radiation!) screwworms that mate with the native population. I have no comment on the positive or negative outcomes of the environmental modifications that both programs ca…
I briefly worked in a leading Biology lab as an undergrad - and this sort of work came up. Genetic modification considered alone is not scary. Gene drives designed for sterilization on the other hand - are.
I was given a long explanation about how gene drives worked and was filled with mild existential terror at how easy it would be to replace "mosquito" with "human". I knew many biologists capable of performing these procedures. It would only take one disgruntled post-doc to really cause humanity existential damage.
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#87Whenever this comes up I always find it interesting that nobody comments on the now 60-year ongoing program that eradicated the screwworm fly from the US by doing pretty much the same thing: releasing millions of genetically altered (sterilized by radiation!) screwworms that mate with the native population. I have no comment on the positive or negative outcomes of the environmental modifications that both programs ca…
Could we do the same for ticks?
Should we? What is normally eating the ticks or living off of them?
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep, this is what we need in the middle of a pandemic. A /bug/ pushed to prod.
We need a staging environment.
This is the staging environment.
That's why everything humanity does sorta, kinda makes sense, but somehow not quite. We're here to work out our bugs.
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#89Whenever this comes up I always find it interesting that nobody comments on the now 60-year ongoing program that eradicated the screwworm fly from the US by doing pretty much the same thing: releasing millions of genetically altered (sterilized by radiation!) screwworms that mate with the native population. I have no comment on the positive or negative outcomes of the environmental modifications that both programs ca…
I briefly worked in a leading Biology lab as an undergrad - and this sort of work came up. Genetic modification considered alone is not scary. Gene drives designed for sterilization on the other hand - are. I was given a long explanation about how gene drives worked and was filled with mild existential terror at how easy it would be to replace "mosquito" with "human". I knew many biologists capable of performing thes…
One post-doc could release 750 million genetically altered humans and we'd be doomed.
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#90Whenever this comes up I always find it interesting that nobody comments on the now 60-year ongoing program that eradicated the screwworm fly from the US by doing pretty much the same thing: releasing millions of genetically altered (sterilized by radiation!) screwworms that mate with the native population. I have no comment on the positive or negative outcomes of the environmental modifications that both programs ca…
I briefly worked in a leading Biology lab as an undergrad - and this sort of work came up. Genetic modification considered alone is not scary. Gene drives designed for sterilization on the other hand - are. I was given a long explanation about how gene drives worked and was filled with mild existential terror at how easy it would be to replace "mosquito" with "human". I knew many biologists capable of performing thes…
While gene drives are scary powerful tech (note, the featured article is not a gene drive), I don't think it would really be a problem humanity wise. We breed a lot slower, so we'd have decades to notice and deal with a problem. And we can apply all sorts of solutions that mosquitos are not capable of.