The stupidity of smart people never ceases to amaze.
750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
51–60 of 159 posts
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#52These anti-Gentically modified people are basically equivalent to anti-vaxxers. The scientific evidence is overwhelming that mosquito borne diseases are a huge public health problem and the studies are solid that using this technology to reduce mosquito populations is safe. Yet, there is always a catastrophe in the gaps type of paranoia.
Vaccines are safe become there’s a well-established process that ensures safety. That is not the case at all for GMOs. And vaccines are reversible (they don’t escape into the wild).
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#53An interesting aspect to this debate is: what kind of actions do we sort of instinctively judge to have very large tail risk, and should we trust those judgements? Of course, the argument here is about the precautionary principle. But the precautionary principle sort of assumes that we can correctly judge which actions have potentially disastrous (non-ergodic, to use Taleb's vocab) consequences. That in itself is an…
I think many people have a negative gut response to genetic modification, especially because DNA/RNA as a code has multiple overlaid meanings besides protein sequences. So there could be unintended consequences. Personally, I’d most question the potential effect on the food chain—what if birds, for example, started developing allergies or other autoimmune issues because of this or other new/modified proteins in resul…
> new/modified proteins in resulting male mosquitoes that their immune systems don’t recognize
What have I missed about the immune system interacting with mosquitoes? The primary immune response I'm aware of that an organism would have with its food would be a food allergy. Are you worried that the genes would jump from a human-biting mosquito species to a bird-biting species and the males would somehow mutate to also bite? Mosquitoes don't infect the animals they bite, so I don't think our allergic immune responses to their bites are beneficial in any way.
Also, ever since a wilderness survival course in a Wisconsin forest in the mid 1990s exposed me to tons of mosquito bites, my immune response to female mosquito saliva is very suppressed to non-existent. (I no longer swell up or feel itchy when bitten. I presume I still have some immune response that could be measured by some blood test, but it's nothing I can notice, even if I look closely at a spot where I've seen a mosquito bite me.) Is there something I need to worry about my reduced immune response to mosquitoes?
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#54I'm curious, how far do mosquitoes travel during their lifetime? If this succeeds perfectly, do we actually wipe out mosquitoes in Florida, or do we cause a short term dip in there population that mosquitoes from neighboring states quickly fill in?
There are great many mosquito-like species, and only rather few of them drink blood.
Fewer species drink human blood, and only a handful carry diseases we currently worry about (West Nile, Dengue, Malaria). We're not aware of any species that feeds specifically on one of these dangerous mosquito species, and all of these dangerous species have other mosquito species in their habitats, so we're pretty sure that first- and second-order environmental impact of the extinction of these dangerous mosquito species would be minimal.
Though, by greatly reducing human morbidity and mortality, wiping out these dangerous mosquito populations would increase general human environmental impact. Granted, that's a Thanos-level complaint, similar to bicycles causing pollution because exercise causes people to live longer.
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tangentially related: "The Screwfly Solution" by Raccoona Sheldon is a fantastic (but pretty dark) short story.
I couldn't not look up "Racoona Sheldon" and found: Alice Bradley Sheldon (August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction author better known as James Tiptree Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. It was not publicly known until 1977 that James Tiptree Jr. was a woman. From 1974 to 1977 she also used the pen name Raccoona Sheldon. Sheldon was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in…
Wow, what a bio. 1941: Chicago Sun art critic. WW2: WAAC major. 1952-55 CIA. 1967 PhD from GWU in experimental psychology.
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#56What are birds going to eat now? asking for a friend.
Tell your friend that there are about 5,000 known species of mosquito, of which about 100 feed on mammalian blood, and out of those 9 are disease carriers. If we can target those specific 9 or some subset thereof, like Aedes aegypti as Oxitec is doing, we at least reduce the misery index while preserving 99.9% of the prey items consumed by birds, dragonflies, and other predators. Also, there's at least one study that suggests total eradication of mosquitoes would not harm the ecosystem because of the availability of substitute food sources.
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#57These mosquitoes compel people people to vote Democratic. QAnon
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#58Do your research. These mosquitoes program people to vote for Democrats.
QAnon
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#59Test
Re: 750M genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in Florida
#60Whenever this comes up I always find it interesting that nobody comments on the now 60-year ongoing program that eradicated the screwworm fly from the US by doing pretty much the same thing: releasing millions of genetically altered (sterilized by radiation!) screwworms that mate with the native population. I have no comment on the positive or negative outcomes of the environmental modifications that both programs ca…
Isn't there a difference between sterilization, and genetic intervention, on potential unknowns?
I am not saying that the first one was entirely safe, but explicit gene editing seems to be much more risky than sterilizing.