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Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

csiro.au

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Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#251

Post by rurban »

cbhl wrote: post #32
denzil_correa wrote: post #5

> To address this challenge, Verily, an affiliate of Alphabet Inc, developed a mosquito rearing and sex sorting and release technology as part of its global Debug project. Verily is formerly "Google Life Sciences" and currently Alphabet Inc's research arm for life sciences. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verily_Life_Sciences

Verily has also been releasing these sterile mosquitoes in Fresno since 2016: https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/07/18/heres-the-real-buzz-g... https://blog.verily.com/2017/07/debug-fresno-our-first-us-fi...

The Fresno result was a 68% reduction, also promising. https://blog.verily.com/2017/11/wrapping-up-debug-fresno-201... Better than the Chinese results on a more massive scale in Guangshou with about 50% reduction. I'd also like to see the Brazil and Vietnam results. https://www.worldmosquitoprogram.org/

Wonder why Australia had 12% better results? The sheer size of the experiment there? Australia was much bigger than Fresno, with only 300 acres there.

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#252

Post by eksemplar »

pm90 wrote: post #99
twelvechairs wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only Australia's CSIRO still had enough funding to do this kind of work itself rather than 'partner with' (i.e. contribute public funding towards the private investment goals of) for-profit companies. Amongst CSIRO's earlier inventions are 1960s insect repelent 'Aerogard', polymer banknotes and major components of Wi-Fi as we know it.

I don't see what the problem is if the for-profit companies goals align with theirs.

The thing about for profit companies is that they rarely advance the world significantly.

Almost everything you enjoy in modern life was build first by public funding. The water in your tap, the electricity in your walls, the roads and bridges you drive on, hell, even the Internet was made by the army and TOR was made by the navy.

What had for profit organizations really given us?

I mean, they have obviously given us a lot, the Internet would be pretty dull without for profit organisations, but they often aren’t good at making new things.

There is a reason you’re still using the email protocol, it’s next to impossible to make a standard when for profit organizations take over, and it’s really the same with mosquito mass murder.

This is great for Australia, but if an African country wants to do the same thing they either have to start from scratch or pay.

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#253

Post by mjburgess »

BurningFrog wrote: post #209
JackCh wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Half of human deaths isn't very significant considering that despite that the human population is still exploding at an unsustainable rate that will cause incredible environmental destruction if left unchecked. Far from being threatened with extinction, our present course will cause the extinction of countless other forms of life. And in response to that, you propose that we deliberately drive even more species to ex…

It's rare to see someone state so plainly that they just don't care about human life. It makes it clear that I have no common ground for this kind of discussion with that person.

[flagged]

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#254

Post by testaccount7 »

denzil_correa wrote: post #5

> To address this challenge, Verily, an affiliate of Alphabet Inc, developed a mosquito rearing and sex sorting and release technology as part of its global Debug project. Verily is formerly "Google Life Sciences" and currently Alphabet Inc's research arm for life sciences. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verily_Life_Sciences

Should Verily be taking on debugging the world? 2nd/3rd order effects

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#255

Post by [deleted] »

twelvechairs wrote: post #96
denzil_correa wrote: post #5

> To address this challenge, Verily, an affiliate of Alphabet Inc, developed a mosquito rearing and sex sorting and release technology as part of its global Debug project. Verily is formerly "Google Life Sciences" and currently Alphabet Inc's research arm for life sciences. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verily_Life_Sciences

If only Australia's CSIRO still had enough funding to do this kind of work itself rather than 'partner with' (i.e. contribute public funding towards the private investment goals of) for-profit companies. Amongst CSIRO's earlier inventions are 1960s insect repelent 'Aerogard', polymer banknotes and major components of Wi-Fi as we know it.

[deleted]

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#256

Post by testaccount7 »

NamTaf wrote: post #106
pm90 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see what the problem is if the for-profit companies goals align with theirs.

It's more a reflection on the fact that our governments have successively cut CSIRO's funding again and again despite their demonstrated return on investment and notable achievements.

Didn't know about CSIRO's earlier inventions, awesome

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#258

Post by bko »

NamTaf wrote: post #106
pm90 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see what the problem is if the for-profit companies goals align with theirs.

It's more a reflection on the fact that our governments have successively cut CSIRO's funding again and again despite their demonstrated return on investment and notable achievements.

Really? It seems pretty steady although it has ticked down slightly as a percentage of gdp since 2012. And looking at spending as a percentage of gdp is a bit misleading, as funding may increase but not at the same pace as gdp growth. I think a more meaningful measure would be real dollars.

CSIRO funding over time

2012-2013 733.8

2013-2014 778.2

2014-2015 745.3

2015-2016 750.3

Do you think that high extra 28mm to attain that high water mark of 2013-2014 funding would have made the big impact?

Maybe 2017-2018 are dramatically lower and if they are, please provide a source.

http://www.arc.gov.au/sites/default/files/filedepot/Public/M...

http://theconversation.com/infographic-how-much-does-austral...

Re: Trial wipes out over 80% of Australian disease-spreading mosquito

#259

Post by CompelTechnic »

bko wrote: post #258
NamTaf wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more a reflection on the fact that our governments have successively cut CSIRO's funding again and again despite their demonstrated return on investment and notable achievements.

Really? It seems pretty steady although it has ticked down slightly as a percentage of gdp since 2012. And looking at spending as a percentage of gdp is a bit misleading, as funding may increase but not at the same pace as gdp growth. I think a more meaningful measure would be real dollars. CSIRO funding over time 2012-2013 733.8 2013-2014 778.2 2014-2015 745.3 2015-2016 750.3 Do you think that high extra 28mm to att…

Thanks for keeping things factual.
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