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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

#61

Post by avar »

nicd wrote: post #59
avar wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> making sure there's no stagnant water[...] A couple of months ago I found mosquito larva in some stagnant water in a parking garage, and made sure to pore some bleach into that stagnant puddle when I returned. I've wondered if the opposite of the "no stagnant water" advice wouldn't be more effective in countries that suffer more from mosquitos. I.e. intentionally create ideal breeding ponds for mosquitos, then kill…

This assumes that the new ponds will pull mosquitoes away from existing ponds. Is this true? (Maybe mosquitoes are limited by suitable breeding grounds, and introducing decoys could have no effect.)

If you get mosquito larva in your honeypot pond it is a suitable breeding ground as far as the mosquito is concerned.

So this would work for the same reason the more high-tech release of sterile mosquitos works, it robs them of a breeding opportunity.

But perhaps I'm misunderstanding your question...

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

#62

Post by deadbeeves »

smt88 wrote: post #55
Smoosh wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they don't feel pain Really? > We found “strong evidence” for pain experiences in adults of two orders, Diptera (flies and mosquitoes) and Blattodea (cockroaches and termites). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00652...

Reacting to harm is not the same as suffering. As far as we know, suffering requires nerves and cognition that mosquitoes don't have (not even close).

Insects have nervous systems. Nearly all animals do.

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

#63

Post by pkaye »

Fomite wrote: post #39

Note that California has reported two cases of Dengue in people who haven't travelled outside the United States.

There have been cases in other states too over the last 10 years. Florida, Texas and Arizona had a lot more locally acquired cases. Those might have been the first locally acquired cases in California. Maybe with climate change, as it gets warmer it becomes more prevalent.

https://www.cdc.gov/dengue/statistics-maps/historic-data.htm...

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

#64

Post by Waterluvian »

avar wrote: post #61
nicd wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This assumes that the new ponds will pull mosquitoes away from existing ponds. Is this true? (Maybe mosquitoes are limited by suitable breeding grounds, and introducing decoys could have no effect.)

If you get mosquito larva in your honeypot pond it is a suitable breeding ground as far as the mosquito is concerned. So this would work for the same reason the more high-tech release of sterile mosquitos works, it robs them of a breeding opportunity. But perhaps I'm misunderstanding your question...

I think the question is about if there’s an upper bound on mosquito reproduction and if you can “steal” a chunk of that and kill it. Or if you’re really just making even more mosquitos overall and your culling doesn’t actually change the bottom line.

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

#65

Post by throwawayapples »

avar wrote: post #58
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…

> making sure there's no stagnant water[...] A couple of months ago I found mosquito larva in some stagnant water in a parking garage, and made sure to pore some bleach into that stagnant puddle when I returned. I've wondered if the opposite of the "no stagnant water" advice wouldn't be more effective in countries that suffer more from mosquitos. I.e. intentionally create ideal breeding ponds for mosquitos, then kill…

Yes; you might have seen mosquito "dunks" that are small donut shaped things that you can drop into flower pots or other areas that don't drain properly. They dissolve over time. There are also mosquito traps (bird-house sized or even just small plastic bags that you cut open). They can be filld with water to activate.

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

#67

Post by arapacana »

smt88 wrote: post #55
Smoosh wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they don't feel pain Really? > We found “strong evidence” for pain experiences in adults of two orders, Diptera (flies and mosquitoes) and Blattodea (cockroaches and termites). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00652...

Reacting to harm is not the same as suffering. As far as we know, suffering requires nerves and cognition that mosquitoes don't have (not even close).

yes, as far as you know from your 1-sample subjective experience of being a human being, that other beings with nervous systems don't suffer.
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