31–40 of 43 posts
I'm not convinced disease is inherently bad for a species. Sure it's bad for the poor individual that catches it, but who knows what the total net sum gain/loss is. For all we know the net result could be a higher rate of extinctions as species end up with overall weaker immune systems.
Sorry, Nature, but I can name several species that could not live without mosquitoes, and you should be able to do the same also. This would be like banning the milk for babies because humans don't depend solely on milk and can eat many other things.
> On the other, a feature in Nature in 2010 found that there were no species who relied solely on mosquitoes Sorry, Nature, but I can name several species that could not live without mosquitoes, and you should be able to do the same also. This would be like banning the milk for babies because humans don't depend solely on milk and can eat many other things.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Other than movies, do we have any evidence that "GM offspring" (whatever that means, turns out defining "GM" is not as straightforward as one might suspect), are, in any way more likely to be dangerous than plain, vanilla, two-mosquitoes having babies offspring? Because, here's the thing - we do know the implications of letting these mosquitoes live. 100s of thousands of people a year die. Every Year.
Do we have any evidence that it won't? If you believe the Monsanto GM corn documentaries, releasing GM into the wild may have bad effects (intended or otherwise) outside the designated population. Plants are obviously not the same as insects, but I would prefer to err on the safe(r) side. Edit: Also, a known bad is often better than an unknown.
You know what would turn around everyone's attitude in about 7 days flat (probably fewer) - have those hundreds of thousands of people dying a year be white, rich, Americans. Every conceivable solution to wipe out the mosquitos would be developed, and rolled out with zero debate (and I mean zero - there wouldn't be a single naysayer of any merit)
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use the Flag button on article's like this. If you see articles getting upvotes, and you read the article and think "this is a crappy, poorly written article and a waste of all of our time", Flag it.
I didn't think that I should use flag as a simple downvote.
"Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
use the Flag button on article's like this. If you see articles getting upvotes, and you read the article and think "this is a crappy, poorly written article and a waste of all of our time", Flag it.
I didn't think that I should use flag as a simple downvote.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> if the potential of unforeseen mutations occurring is above zero The potential of unforeseen mutations occurring is 100%, GM or no. How do you think species evolve?
I guess you just confirmed my point.
Almost no support for the thesis of "bad things will happen if we wipe out mosquitoes" other than "We don't know what will happen." On the flip side, we do know what will happen if the Aedes aegypti, Anopheles, etc... is allowed to continue to exist - 100s of thousands of people a year will die. I wonder how the author would feel about keeping mosquitoes around "just in case", if hundreds of thousands of her neighbor…
Species go extinct all the time, and the world doesn't end. Wiping out one species deliberately will probably not be a disaster. Letting mosquitoes continue to exist is just as likely to "bring along with it an endless string of unforeseen consequences, one that could possibly be worse for humans than the problems we have now" as not doing so. On the other hand, we should probably do some due diligence before decidin…
I think the "how" is more important. Genetic modification sounds awesome, and really dangerous. If it's not just right, or if the potential of unforeseen mutations occurring is above zero, I think we risk too much regardless of the benefits. I.e. please be completely certain that the GM offspring mating with female individuals will not result in some other side effect...