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Dengue rates plunged after release of lab-altered mosquitoes

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Re: Dengue rates plunged after release of lab-altered mosquitoes

#21

Post by melagonster »

e63f67dd-065b wrote: post #17

This is great news. Dengue was a constant problem in my home country of Malaysia, and remains a problem to this day. I still remember all the public education campaigns about it that I saw when I was young (random ads on TV about making sure there's no stagnant water, seeking medical help if you notice , etc), I'm very glad that there are easily implementable solutions to these problems. As a side note, I wonder why…

Malaysia, Singapore and Australia did experiment in field, there are not many countries accomplished this. so they did it.

Re: Dengue rates plunged after release of lab-altered mosquitoes

#22

Post by epistasis »

somenameforme wrote: post #19
bedobi wrote: post #12

This is hardly the place for this kind of discussion but I can't help but comment on this. Countless species are already going extinct all the time, both known to us and completely unknown to us, and both "naturally" and from human impact, and no one really cares. Here's a rare case of a species that there is very good reason to deliberately get rid of, and suddenly people care and object, a lot!? Of course there's j…

It's the means. If people wanted to look for ways to help reduce stagnant water, as a means of reducing mosquito populations, I suspect exactly 0 people would object. But releasing billions of mosquitos with a bacteria and hoping there's no natural evolution to it, and everything continues to work as planned indefinitely...? There's more than sufficient reason for skepticism there. Beyond this, I would also consider…

Are these the concerns of people who study ecosystems deeply, and dedicate their lives to environmental protection through understanding it deeply?

Or are they the concerns of people who don't know much, though they care deeply? I find these folks often pursue actions with great passion that are effectively neutral or sometimes even detrimental to the environment.

You say that most mistakes of the past have been made after careful consideration, but I do not believe that is the case at all. Most disasters, like the dumping of chemicals from semiconducting manufacturing in Silicon Valley that created so many superfund sites, was just carelessness and complete lack of concern or study.

Re: Dengue rates plunged after release of lab-altered mosquitoes

#23

Post by smt88 »

gehwartzen wrote: post #20
smt88 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems that it shortens their lives, so it's not healthy for them.

long life riddled with parasites or somewhat shorter life sans parasites. I feel like they would be cool with it

Mosquitoes aren't affected by dengue. It's a human disease.

Even if they were affected by it, they don't feel pain or have emotions, so they'd "choose" to live longer.

Re: Dengue rates plunged after release of lab-altered mosquitoes

#24

Post by bradleybuda »

vGPU wrote: post #16
indigo0086 wrote: post #10

So all benefits, no negatives?

I can’t help but feel like I’ve heard this before.

The great thing about technology is that it's possible to have new things or ways of life that are strictly better than the ones they replace! We can move beyond the efficient frontier; progress is non-zero-sum.

  * Golden Rice
  * Unleaded gas
  * HCFCs (over CFCs)
  * etc

Re: Dengue rates plunged after release of lab-altered mosquitoes

#25

Post by erredois »

bedobi wrote: post #12

This is hardly the place for this kind of discussion but I can't help but comment on this. Countless species are already going extinct all the time, both known to us and completely unknown to us, and both "naturally" and from human impact, and no one really cares. Here's a rare case of a species that there is very good reason to deliberately get rid of, and suddenly people care and object, a lot!? Of course there's j…

On this case of the Aedes Aegypti in the Americas, should not even be a big consideration whether to exterminate or not, since it's an invasive species from Asia.

Re: Dengue rates plunged after release of lab-altered mosquitoes

#26

Post by mullingitover »

somenameforme wrote: post #19
bedobi wrote: post #12

This is hardly the place for this kind of discussion but I can't help but comment on this. Countless species are already going extinct all the time, both known to us and completely unknown to us, and both "naturally" and from human impact, and no one really cares. Here's a rare case of a species that there is very good reason to deliberately get rid of, and suddenly people care and object, a lot!? Of course there's j…

It's the means. If people wanted to look for ways to help reduce stagnant water, as a means of reducing mosquito populations, I suspect exactly 0 people would object. But releasing billions of mosquitos with a bacteria and hoping there's no natural evolution to it, and everything continues to work as planned indefinitely...? There's more than sufficient reason for skepticism there. Beyond this, I would also consider…

I don't think OP is talking about the bacteria-inoculated mosquitoes, they're taking about eradicating the species completely with something like a CRISPR gene drive.

I am passionately in favor of this.

Re: Dengue rates plunged after release of lab-altered mosquitoes

#27

Post by [deleted] »

bedobi wrote: post #12

This is hardly the place for this kind of discussion but I can't help but comment on this. Countless species are already going extinct all the time, both known to us and completely unknown to us, and both "naturally" and from human impact, and no one really cares. Here's a rare case of a species that there is very good reason to deliberately get rid of, and suddenly people care and object, a lot!? Of course there's j…

[deleted]

Re: Dengue rates plunged after release of lab-altered mosquitoes

#28

Post by tim333 »

e63f67dd-065b wrote: post #17

This is great news. Dengue was a constant problem in my home country of Malaysia, and remains a problem to this day. I still remember all the public education campaigns about it that I saw when I was young (random ads on TV about making sure there's no stagnant water, seeking medical help if you notice , etc), I'm very glad that there are easily implementable solutions to these problems. As a side note, I wonder why…

Maybe it's easier to be releasing them somewhere else? Oxford based Oxitec also have mosquitos to counter Dengue but genetically modified rather than with Wolbachia. https://www.wired.com/story/genetically-engineered-mosquitoe...

Re: Dengue rates plunged after release of lab-altered mosquitoes

#29

Post by dan-robertson »

vGPU wrote: post #16
indigo0086 wrote: post #10

So all benefits, no negatives?

I can’t help but feel like I’ve heard this before.

How often do you hear about the downsides of malaria eradication in the United States (probably spraying most of Florida with DDT would be one…)? What about screwworm fly elimination in the United States and parts of Central America? That program is much more similar to the thing described in this article than spraying every puddle with insecticide.

Re: Dengue rates plunged after release of lab-altered mosquitoes

#30

Post by dan-robertson »

bedobi wrote: post #12

This is hardly the place for this kind of discussion but I can't help but comment on this. Countless species are already going extinct all the time, both known to us and completely unknown to us, and both "naturally" and from human impact, and no one really cares. Here's a rare case of a species that there is very good reason to deliberately get rid of, and suddenly people care and object, a lot!? Of course there's j…

I think part of this is that the idea can be unfamiliar and so people try to come to random conclusions or raise concerns that have already been considered (or they just disagree with the prevailing view). The search term for this kind of thing is ‘planned extinction’ and it perhaps won’t surprise you to hear that A. aegypti is the most common candidate. Another case is the (new world) screwworm fly which has been eliminated from North America and most of Central America by the United States (it being easier to try to control spread through Panama than from Mexico). There was a New Yorker article posted here a while ago about the elimination efforts. I’m not sure farmers in Colombia or the rest of South America would mind much if the species were totally eradicated.
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