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Brazilians welcome genetically-modified mosquito to help fight dengue fever

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Re: Brazilians welcome genetically-modified mosquito to help fight dengue fever

#41

Post by Carioca »

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #20
argc wrote: post #6

I am not afraid of GM stuff, but does anyone else think this idea is potentially really dumb? What about everything that relies on these mosquitoes as a food source? I am not an expert... but trying to just kill off an entire species sounds like a TERRIBLE idea...

The aedes aegyptus is an invasive species in the Americas and should be eradicated. There are about 3000 species of mosquitoes in the world, of which three bear deadly disease: 1. Anopheles (malaria, elephantiasis, and encephalitis) 2. Culex (encephalitis, elephantiasis, and West Nile virus) 3. Aedes (yellow fever, dengue, and encephalitis) Asian Tiger mosquitoes are a subspecies of Aedes. If we were to wipe out thes…

Coincidentally, the Africanized honey bee fiasco started in Brazil.

Re: Brazilians welcome genetically-modified mosquito to help fight dengue fever

#42

Post by qeorge »

eqdw wrote: post #39
hrktb wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As mosquito related problems are just plain hard and in this context ther is no other viable solution, I also think the usual fear is less important in this context. But for the sake of the argument, the fact that this mosquito comes from Africa doesn't really matter so much, as the consequences of this operation could go from making it immune to this gene, make it mutate in a different/worse direction, or have the e…

Where I'm from, the city routinely carpet-bombs the city with pesticides ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malathion ). This is pretty contentious, especially since it's primarily for pest control and not actually for health reasons. GMO tech that lets us stop breathing in all that delicious malathion is a good thing, in my books

I agree with you, and its hard for me to view carpet bombing a city with pesticides as somehow interfering less with the environment.

Re: Brazilians welcome genetically-modified mosquito to help fight dengue fever

#43

Post by Pxtl »

hrjet wrote: post #36
rdl wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scientists studied getting rid of all mosquitoes globally, and came to the conclusion it wouldn't have much of a negative impact (and a huge net positive for due ending malaria, dengue, etc.) Nothing eats exclusively mosquitoes, and those animals (birds) which do eat them could just switch to other insects, which generally are not in short supply. http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100721/full/466432a.html I'd do it in…

> those animals (birds) which do eat them could just switch to other insects If those animals can switch, so can bacteria and virii switch their carriers.

Other carriers aren't shared flying hypodermic needles.

Re: Brazilians welcome genetically-modified mosquito to help fight dengue fever

#44

Post by fixermark »

jostmey wrote: post #5

The approach may work a while. But then I am sure some mutant gene will eventually emerge in the wild-type populations that will inhibit the synthetic kill gene. That's how Nature works.

That's a pretty good prediction. Were I a betting man, my money would be on an explosion of females who can use some form of detection to suss out the defective gene based on some secondary characteristic. If those females can then evade mating with the altered males, their offspring would rapidly expand through the ecosystem (given that their niche would be cleared of in-species competitors).

Jury's out on whether this change could happen before the mosquito population falls below sustainable levels, though. Mosquitos breed rapidly, but they don't hold a candle to bacteria breeding rates and it takes a lot of generations for those to evolve resistance to each generation of antibacterials.

Re: Brazilians welcome genetically-modified mosquito to help fight dengue fever

#45

Post by [deleted] »

eqdw wrote: post #38
jrkelly wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The very first commercial application of GMOs was recombinant insulin for diabetics. Followed by a slew of other drugs - GMOs now make 50% of drugs (all the protein ones). The agriculture applications came 5-10 years later as plants were harder to engineer than microbes.

My girlfriend is diabetic. Her mom is pretty stereotypical anti-GMO hippie type. To me, the irony is delicious. Course, then I realize that my girlfriend's mom is essentially anti- her living and it stops being funny

[deleted]

Re: Brazilians welcome genetically-modified mosquito to help fight dengue fever

#46

Post by wprl »

wyager wrote: post #27
rdl wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Green revolution did, but that wasn't GMO. (Borlaug was probably one of the top 10 people of the 20th Century) GMO is much more recent, and generally works on crops which are large and mechanized, which don't really exist in third world countries. The main beneficiaries to date of GMO have been soybeans and corn in the US. The stat I've seen is 5-10% gains in the 90s from GMO. ( http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/12…

>Green revolution did, but that wasn't GMO. The green revolution did a lot of good, but GMO is potentially doing even more. Have you looked at modern strains of GM rice? That stuff is absolutely amazing. Incredibly drought and flood resistance, and can thrive in a huge range of environmental conditions. As GMO tech progresses, we'll probably just see better and better stuff. Imagine plants with antifreeze proteins to…

As GMO tech progresses, we are seeing strange side effects like interference with the monarch butterfly and bees, soil depletion, a drive for deeper genetic modification as weeds and insects adapt to old versions, a draconian patent structure effecting farmer livelihood, just to name a few problems.

Who would blame anyone for choosing food over starvation? But GMO is not a solution for the world, and it is not a sustainable solution for fixing poverty.

I aim this generally: it's a bit rich for the so-called developed world to destroy sustainable indigenous populations and then "solve" the problem with intensive agriculture. All under the banner of "isn't science great," "what could possibly go wrong," and "cheaper feed for livestock."

I doubt it's a popular opinion, but there I said it!

Re: Brazilians welcome genetically-modified mosquito to help fight dengue fever

#47

Post by wprl »

a_bonobo wrote: post #24
jrkelly wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The very first commercial application of GMOs was recombinant insulin for diabetics. Followed by a slew of other drugs - GMOs now make 50% of drugs (all the protein ones). The agriculture applications came 5-10 years later as plants were harder to engineer than microbes.

Other examples: The enzymes in washing powders are generally produced by GM bacteria, too, together with the chymosin needed for cheese production. There used to be a GM-tomato called FLAVR SAVR about 15 years ago, which had direct benefits to end customers = the tomatoes stayed fresh longer. Public opposition out of fear killed it (also a good lesson: don't give flashy, technical names to food). http://californiaagr…

Also, GMO tomatoes have poor flavor and too taut a texture…

Re: Brazilians welcome genetically-modified mosquito to help fight dengue fever

#48

Post by salmonellaeater »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #19
argc wrote: post #6

I am not afraid of GM stuff, but does anyone else think this idea is potentially really dumb? What about everything that relies on these mosquitoes as a food source? I am not an expert... but trying to just kill off an entire species sounds like a TERRIBLE idea...

I make an exception for the mosquito. Killing the whole species sounds like great idea.

One effect of parasites and diseases is to increase diversity. If a species becomes too common, a disease or parasite targeting it can flourish, cutting back its numbers and allowing other species to take its place. Eradicating mosquitoes might have an unexpected effect like making the number of rats or some other vermin to explode.

Re: Brazilians welcome genetically-modified mosquito to help fight dengue fever

#49

Post by ekianjo »

Note that the article makes it seem that the Dengue fever is fatal in most cases, but it certainly is NOT. Most of the time people who get it will recover within 10 days, even though they will be severely incapacitated during that period. Most people who actually die from Dengue are people who were already weakened by something else or older populations.

Re: Brazilians welcome genetically-modified mosquito to help fight dengue fever

#50

Post by a_bonobo »

wprl wrote: post #47
a_bonobo wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other examples: The enzymes in washing powders are generally produced by GM bacteria, too, together with the chymosin needed for cheese production. There used to be a GM-tomato called FLAVR SAVR about 15 years ago, which had direct benefits to end customers = the tomatoes stayed fresh longer. Public opposition out of fear killed it (also a good lesson: don't give flashy, technical names to food). http://californiaagr…

Also, GMO tomatoes have poor flavor and too taut a texture…

I'd like to see the citation on that (there are no GM tomatoes on the market), I'd also like to add that the 'watery', huge, flavour-poor tomatoes you often get in Europe have been created by traditional non-GM breeding: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2012/06/2...

There have been efforts to create GM-tomatoes with better taste, here's one example from 2007: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gm-tomato-tastes-b...

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