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America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

theatlantic.com

21–30 of 42 posts

Re: America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

#21
post #10
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems that the mosquito effort was not a success after all [0]. [0] https://m.dw.com/en/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-breed-in...

Different approach, that attempt was to reduce population sizes not cause extinction. Though it is evidence that Gene Drive is less likely to work than many expect.

Nature thwarts gene drives by modifying their targets, so it's important that whatever is being targeted can't easily change. Surviving instead of being killed off is certainly an evolutionary advantage, after all :-)

There's been some research on finding targets that can't be mutated. Here's one example: https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.4245

Re: America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

#22
post #20
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this never happens?

I didn't come up with the idea, I saw it in action in a mining context. Besides, how you can be sure it does or doesn't happen? The world is large and complicated; and basic research gets nearly no press and is very hard to statistically quantify. Where would you look for proof in the positive or negative?

Fonterra, New Zealand's largest company runs along these lines. It's a dairy company, so basically gets milk from dairy farmers and puts it on the market. It is a co-op owned by those farmers.

Re: America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

#23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All he has to do is write one tweet: "Screwworms are the worst! No one likes them and with my powerful leadership we will destroy them even more!" Immediately lots of people will start campaigning to restore the pests to their previous range and the rest of the world too.

Why is it so important to fantasise imaginary scenarios about your idol-of-hate rather than conjure up effective means by which things can improve in society? Derangement syndrome is a reality. Not everything bad that happens is a result of the scary orange puppet. A lot of times, its mass ignorance that causes the worst ills in society.

If you seek an "improvement in society", you might try reading more carefully. My comment was obviously making fun of the "deranged": to whit, people crazy enough to like screwworms. I have no opinions of the current president that don't extend to any other politician. They all like war, so I don't like any of them.

Have a nice day.

Re: America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it so important to fantasise imaginary scenarios about your idol-of-hate rather than conjure up effective means by which things can improve in society? Derangement syndrome is a reality. Not everything bad that happens is a result of the scary orange puppet. A lot of times, its mass ignorance that causes the worst ills in society.

If you seek an "improvement in society", you might try reading more carefully. My comment was obviously making fun of the "deranged": to whit, people crazy enough to like screwworms. I have no opinions of the current president that don't extend to any other politician. They all like war, so I don't like any of them. Have a nice day.

I don't remember Trump being mentioned in the original article, and it seems more like you had an opportunity to vent on your personal issue, so you went for it. Screwworm removal improved society; members of the hate-Trump cult don't.

Re: America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

#26
post #2

A little tangential, but having just been in an argument here with someone who advocated a "nightwatchman state," I wonder what they'd think of the USDA's efforts here (as well as the other governments'). It seems almost impossible that this could have been coordinated by private industry alone: while there's an obvious benefit to the cattle industry, it seems hardly likely that they would have sponsored the years of…

Screwworm eradication is an easy thing for a night watchman state to do. It costs next to nothing.

Re: America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

#27
This amazing bit from the wikipedia article about the fly:

"The first, and to-date largest, documented infestation of C. hominivorax myiasis outside of the Americas occurred in North Africa from 1989 to 1991. The outbreak was traced to a herd of sheep in Libya's Tripoli region, which began suffering screwworm attacks in July 1989; over the following months, the myiasis spread rapidly, infecting numerous herds across a 25,000 km2 area. Eventually, the infested region spanned from the Mediterranean coast to the Sahara Desert, threatening the more than 2.7 million animals susceptible to C. hominvorax that inhabited the area. More than 14,000 cases of large-scale myiasis due to the C. hominivorax species were documented. Traditional control methods using veterinary assessment and treatment of individual animals were insufficient to contain the widely dispersed outbreak, so the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization launched a program based on the sterile insect technique.[10] About 1.26 billion sterile flies were produced in Mexico, shipped to the infested area, and released to mate with their wild counterparts. Within months, the C. hominvorax population collapsed; by April 1991, the program had succeeded in eradicating C. hominivorax in the Eastern Hemisphere. This effort, which cost under US$100 million, was among the most efficient and successful international animal health programs in UN history."

Incredible!

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochliomyia

Re: America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you seek an "improvement in society", you might try reading more carefully. My comment was obviously making fun of the "deranged": to whit, people crazy enough to like screwworms. I have no opinions of the current president that don't extend to any other politician. They all like war, so I don't like any of them. Have a nice day.

I don't remember Trump being mentioned in the original article, and it seems more like you had an opportunity to vent on your personal issue, so you went for it. Screwworm removal improved society; members of the hate-Trump cult don't.

Dude it was a joke. Read the thread: I didn't bring him up in the first place. You might find the world more agreeable if you were less intent on your impressions of other people's "personal issues". If you think I'm in a "hate cult" you have no idea what is going on.

Re: America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

#29
post #2

A little tangential, but having just been in an argument here with someone who advocated a "nightwatchman state," I wonder what they'd think of the USDA's efforts here (as well as the other governments'). It seems almost impossible that this could have been coordinated by private industry alone: while there's an obvious benefit to the cattle industry, it seems hardly likely that they would have sponsored the years of…

> US foreign policy in the wars

Cuba and the Soviet Union started insurgencies in several countries in Central America. Blaming the US for its attempts to counter this is disingenuous.

Re: America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

#30
post #16
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...it seems hardly likely that they would have sponsored the years of investment in basic research... That is the easy part. There is a good model for shared infrastructure - a private corporation is established, all the local companies buy a share then the shared company builds, owns and operates the actual infrastructure. The same thing works for funding long-term research in everyone's best interest. A shared re…

But this never happens?

An example in semiconductors would be Sematech.
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