Fighting Mosquitoes With GM Mosquitoes

doug141 writes "Scientists are releasing genetically modified male mosquitoes that produce flightless female offspring. The male offspring go on to wipe out another generation of females. This is similar to the way screwworms were eradicated in the U.S., except with nature itself making more of the modified males. Field trials are already underway."

Comments

Lets fuck it up.

[unity100]

We are basing an entire science and evolution upon genetic modification through chance encounters leading to amplified results over generations (and rightfully so), but we are playing with genes of fast-breeding lower level creatures like they were lego bricks. yeah. i can assure you there wont be any fast modifications due to the genes you introduced over the subsequend generations. ending up in who knows what.

Re:Obligatory turd in punchbowl

[Jibekn]

Excuse me? While you're food point is debatable, but valid. Saying were not in a population crisis is just you wearing blinders. You do understand, that global population has been doubling at alarming rates.

There was about 1 billion humans in 1800~ (educated estimate) it took us 120 years to double that, to 2 billion in the mid 1920's. It took only 45~ years to double again to 4 billion in mid 70's. We'll reach 8 Billion around the 2030 mark, which is another 45 years, and double again to 16 billion before the end of my life. My children's(theoretically, i dont have any atm) lives will see the population double TWICE more in their life times. Within the next 100 years, at our current growth rate, and that rate is INCREASING as technologies moves forward, so that estimate is conservative, more likely we'll see 2 more doubling inside 70-80 years.

That puts us roughly around 64~ Billion humans shortly after 2100, and again let me reiterate that this is at our CURRENT growth rate of doubling every ~45 years, as the past has shown us, that rate increases also exponentially, our (well, my) children could very likely see 3 more doublings, putting us at over 100 billion people on the planet.

Are you seriously going to sit there, and tell me that looking at increasing our populations by over 100 billion humans within 80 to 140 years is not a fucking crisis? You are insane?