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Fighting Mosquitoes With GM Mosquitoes

Posted by samzenpus on from the it's-a-bug-eat-bug-world dept.

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."

21 of 521 comments (clear)

  1. Do I get to say... by migla · · Score: 5, Funny

    What could possibly go wrong?

    --
    Some of my favourite people are from th US; Vonnegut, Chomsky, Bill Hicks.
  2. Obligatory turd in punchbowl by stevegee58 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sorry to break up this anti-mosquito party, but don't mosquitos serve a useful purpose in nature?
    Is it OK for us to blindly eradicate them just because they cause disease in humans? It's not like mosquitos are going to kill us off or anything.

    1. Re:Obligatory turd in punchbowl by LostOne · · Score: 5, Funny

      Although I don't immediately know the specifics for mosquitos, not everything in nature serves a useful purpose.

      Like, for instance, humans. Nature would get along much better without us, probably.

      --

      If it works in theory, try something else in practice.
    2. Re:Obligatory turd in punchbowl by dvice_null · · Score: 5, Funny

      > Like, for instance, humans. Nature would get along much better without us, probably.

      Not quite, there are mosquitoes that need humans as a food source.

    3. Re:Obligatory turd in punchbowl by Capt.DrumkenBum · · Score: 5, Funny

      Like, for instance, humans. Nature would get along much better without us, probably.

      My theory is that nature wanted plastics, and since there was no natural way to produce plastics nature created humans to make plastics. Unfortunately for nature this plan has gone slightly had some unforeseen side effects.

      --
      If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
    4. Re:Obligatory turd in punchbowl by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 5, Funny

      Don't anthropomorphize nature. It really hates that.

  3. Nature... will find a way! by arcite · · Score: 5, Informative

    Or maybe not. Actually I would be more in favor of releasing wave after wave of bats. Fruit bats preferably, they're cute!

    1. Re:Nature... will find a way! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      While fruit bats certainly are cute, I don't think they'll be very effective at eating mosquitoes. ;)

    2. Re:Nature... will find a way! by msauve · · Score: 5, Funny

      "fruit bats certainly are cute, I don't think they'll be very effective at eating mosquitoes. "

      We just need mosquitoes which genetically altered to taste like mangos.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    3. Re:Nature... will find a way! by mcgrew · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Ignorance and superstition. Bats eat insects -- LOTS of insects. They do no harm to society, other animals, or anything else. Little brown bats are insectivores, eating moths, wasps, beetles, gnats,
      mosquitoes, midges and mayflies, among others. You like mosquitos, cockroaches, flies, and moths?

      You wouldn't like your neighborhood without bats.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    4. Re:Nature... will find a way! by Forty+Two+Tenfold · · Score: 5, Funny

      You can't stay there. It's a bat country.

      --
      Upward mobility is a slippery slope - the higher you climb the more you show your ass.
    5. Re:Nature... will find a way! by evil_aaronm · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Be careful what you wish for. There was an article - google it - regarding the number of bats killed by wind turbines and the direct cost increase to farmers who had to increase their pesticide usage in response. Food prices, of course, also go up. Just as killing mosquitoes wholesale would be "bad" for the "cycle of life," killing off bats would be about as bad, I'd guess.

      Personal anecdote: one night earlier this summer, my grand-daughter and I watched a flock of bats at dusk and, though they swooped and came close a few times - we were standing near the pool where the bats would dive bomb to get a drink - they never once threatened us. In addition to being a fascinating show, it was a good lesson for her: bats may -look- scary, but are usually harmless; no need to panic. I'm trying to get her - and her grandmother, and her mother - not to be so frightened by spiders, too, though less successfully.

    6. Re:Nature... will find a way! by Anthony+Mouse · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Just as killing mosquitoes wholesale would be "bad" for the "cycle of life,"

      I'm not at all convinced that mosquitoes aren't an exception. Most of their "positive utility" is in serving as food for critters higher on the food chain, but in that respect they're pretty fungible with most other insects. If we killed all the mosquitoes, it wouldn't kill all the bats -- they would just eat other insects.

      The primary other thing they do is draw blood from various animals (which has a negligible effect on anything) and spread disease (which is pretty firmly in the net negative category).

    7. Re:Nature... will find a way! by Surt · · Score: 5, Funny

      Umm ... your parent poster complained about bat guano. Which of ignorance or superstition was it to claim that a large number of bats were responsible for his unwanted surplus of bat guano?

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    8. Re:Nature... will find a way! by RulerOf · · Score: 5, Funny

      Which of ignorance or superstition was it to claim that a large number of bats were responsible for his unwanted surplus of bat guano?

      We may never know---I suspect he has gone batshit crazy.

      --
      Boot Windows, Linux, and ESX over the network for free.
    9. Re:Nature... will find a way! by rogueippacket · · Score: 5, Funny

      The bats would be optional then - I'd eat the mosquitoes if they were mango flavored!

  4. Re:Genocide by MetalliQaZ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It saves human lives. fsck the mosquitoes. Did you complain when they eradicated small pox?

    --
    "Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
  5. Re:How about driving their evolution instead? by Daniel_Staal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, for instance, we could create a way to selectively wipe out just the one species of mosquitoes that carry these diseases, while leaving other closely related species unharmed. Perhaps we could make it so that their females can't feed or flee from predators.

    --
    'Sensible' is a curse word.
  6. Re:That's nuts.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "The humble mosquito, and the deadly diseases it carries, is estimated to have been responsible for as many as 46 billion deaths over the history of our species. That staggering number is even more frightening in context - it means that mosquitoes are alleged to have killed more than half the humans that ever lived."

    Besides eliminating one species of Mosquito isn't going to affect the others that live in the same places. (like eliminating Chihuahuas won't affect other dogs species much)

  7. Re:Mosquitoes will go the way of the dinosaur! by Bowling+Moses · · Score: 5, Informative

    "Folks, the mosquito could get extinct in a few years. Scary indeed."

    Well, A mosquito species could be come extinct. According to TFA, Aedes aegypti to be exact. This particular mosquito can carry several major human pathogens including dengue hemorrhagic fever, yellow fever, and chickungunya, which are all viral diseases. Ae. aegypti originated in Africa but is now found throughout tropical and subtropical regions including the USA, where it used to be in only Florida and the southeast but has since spread north to New York and Illinois. Especially alarming is the fact that there have been outbreaks of dengue recently (in 2010 at least) in Florida.

    Eradication of Ae. aegypti might not necessarily be that big of a deal environmentally. While mosquitoes are an important part of the diet of many predators, there are over 40 genera comprising thousands of species of mosquitoes. Any reasonably sized chunk of land probably has more than one species of mosquito, for example here in Wisconsin we have not less than 58 species. Even tiny Rhode Island is home to at least 46 mosquito species!

  8. Re:Mosquitoes will go the way of the dinosaur! by Scarletdown · · Score: 5, Funny

    Result: Males will find it difficult to find a mate, resulting in fewer mosquitoes all together.

    And then those mateless male mosquitos will either go into IT, become imaginary property lawyers, or become politicians.

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