Eradicating Earth’s Mosquitoes to Fight Disease Is Probably a Bad Idea
motherboard.vice.com
Eradicating Earth’s Mosquitoes to Fight Disease Is Probably a Bad Idea
1–10 of 43 posts
Re: Eradicating Earth’s Mosquitoes to Fight Disease Is Probably a Bad Idea
#2I think that irrespective of the title and the benefits of conservation of the ecosystem, letting mosquitoes stay alive needs a far more compelling argument than "it might take away some other animal's snack"
Re: Eradicating Earth’s Mosquitoes to Fight Disease Is Probably a Bad Idea
#3Species 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 deciding to embark on a mosquitocide, just to try and swing the odds in our favour.
Re: Eradicating Earth’s Mosquitoes to Fight Disease Is Probably a Bad Idea
#4Species 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…
We definitely should. I'm sure there are factors in the ecosystem that rely (but maybe not depend) on mosquito presence.
That's why I love the idea of being able to genetically modify them to produce only male offspring. It provides a nice, asymptotic curve way of culling the population without dramatically changing their ecosystem overnight
Re: Eradicating Earth’s Mosquitoes to Fight Disease Is Probably a Bad Idea
#5TL; DR: We actually have no idea what impact there is to having or eradicating mosquitos. So let's do nothing.
Re: Eradicating Earth’s Mosquitoes to Fight Disease Is Probably a Bad Idea
#6Species 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...
Re: Eradicating Earth’s Mosquitoes to Fight Disease Is Probably a Bad Idea
#7Species 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...
If it goes wrong and they end up breeding super bloodsuckers, worst case we put them all through the bar exam ;).
Re: Eradicating Earth’s Mosquitoes to Fight Disease Is Probably a Bad Idea
#8TL; DR: We actually have no idea what impact there is to having or eradicating mosquitos. So let's do nothing.
to which the answer is, more research to discover what mosquitos connect with and are any of the connections beneficial
mosquitos inhabit a niche which could be filled by another organism were they to be eradicated and then we're back to square-one in a new way
but yeh let's eradicate them
Re: Eradicating Earth’s Mosquitoes to Fight Disease Is Probably a Bad Idea
#9Species 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…
We definitely should. I'm sure there are factors in the ecosystem that rely (but maybe not depend) on mosquito presence. That's why I love the idea of being able to genetically modify them to produce only male offspring. It provides a nice, asymptotic curve way of culling the population without dramatically changing their ecosystem overnight
Yeah, even if there are no obligate mosquivores, we're perturbing a chaotic system, which is defined by sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Any action we take (including none at all) is going to have some arbitrarily large (or small) effect on the future state of the system.
If it works exactly as described, the 'only male offspring' modification should be nice and side-effect-free. But then, evolution is a big-numbers statistical game. Who knows what interesting variations we'll see..
Re: Eradicating Earth’s Mosquitoes to Fight Disease Is Probably a Bad Idea
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
We definitely should. I'm sure there are factors in the ecosystem that rely (but maybe not depend) on mosquito presence. That's why I love the idea of being able to genetically modify them to produce only male offspring. It provides a nice, asymptotic curve way of culling the population without dramatically changing their ecosystem overnight
Yeah, even if there are no obligate mosquivores, we're perturbing a chaotic system, which is defined by sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Any action we take (including none at all) is going to have some arbitrarily large (or small) effect on the future state of the system. If it works exactly as described, the 'only male offspring' modification should be nice and side-effect-free. But then, evolution is a b…
it's quite possible that mosquitoes that don't require a male to procreate will take dominance. I think there are wasps like that...