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FDA Wants To Release Millions of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes In Florida

MikeChino writes In an attempt to curb outbreaks of two devastating tropical diseases in the Florida Keys, the FDA is proposing the release of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes into the area. Scientists have bred male mosquitoes with virus gene fragments, so when they mate with the females that bite and spread illness, their offspring will die. This can reduce the mosquito population dramatically, halting the spread of diseases like dengue fever.

12 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. What could possibly go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I predict that everything will go exactly according to plan. There will be no unforeseen consequences. Nope. No way Jose.

    1. Re:What could possibly go wrong? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Funny

      So far, no monster mosquitoes.

      Next made for SyFy movie: Sharkitoes

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  2. Ooh! by Greyfox · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dibbs on opening the cage! I'll get to work practicing my mad scientist laugh! "Muahahahahaha! YES! GO FORTH AND FEED, MY CHILDREN!"

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    1. Re:Ooh! by swillden · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dibbs on opening the cage! I'll get to work practicing my mad scientist laugh! "Muahahahahaha! YES! GO FORTH AND FEED, MY CHILDREN!"

      You should also practice your deflated-sounding "Oh", for when your assistant whispers in your ear that male mosquitoes feed on sap and nectar, not blood.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
  3. Re:So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    They're part of the fragile balance of our precious, vulnerable ecosystem. Loss of this species will bring down the wrath of Gaea upon the blasphemers.

  4. WASPs by dotslashdot · · Score: 5, Funny

    With the mosquitos gone, the WASPs will move in, causing gentrification in the area as the higher prices sting a lot worse.

  5. What could possibly go wrong? by burtosis · · Score: 4, Funny

    "scientists at the British biofirm Oxitec have found a way to breed male Aedes aegypti with genetic fragments from E. coli bacteria and herpex simplex virus, along with coral and cabbage." I mean besides gigantic Mosquitos that can reproduce on common food source surfaces with a retro virus capable of infecting and rewriting your DNA with tentacles around a central mouth probuscus having a giant cabbage for a head. Not that females would notice because that's pretty much how males are normally.

  6. Re:So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    What is the down side of a mosquito-less world?

    Fire and brimstone coming down from the sky! Rivers and seas boiling!
    Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes!
    The dead rising from the grave!
    Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats, living together! Mass hysteria!

  7. Re:So.... by freeze128 · · Score: 4, Funny

    There is a risk that the genetically modified mosquitoes will be eaten by deformed frogs, which will mate with other frogs and produce frogs that sing and ride bicycles.

  8. Re:So.... by NoKaOi · · Score: 4, Funny

    The problem is that they are genetically modified, and the hippies refer to them as "GMO Mosquitos," and thus they are unnatural abominations. They think that the mosquitos will bite people and infect them with their GMO DNA, as if they were vampires that turn humans into giant GMO mosquitos. When informed that they are releasing males, and males don't bite, they either deny that males don't bite, or insist that the few females will still make it through will bite and infect people with their GMO DNA that will cause cancer, gluten intolerance (seriously, I heard that one today), kidney disease, heart disease, hyperthyroidism, IBS, ALS, MS, Parkinson's, birth defects, and a few others that I don't remember. And no, I am not making that shit up and I am not exaggerating, anti-GMOers' grasp on reality is approximately equal to Scientologists.

  9. Won't anyone think of the dengue and chikungunya?! by NoKaOi · · Score: 3, Funny

    Extinction is wrong! The hippies worked really hard to bring measles back from the brink of extinction, they're not going to stand idly by while the evil scientists with their GMO abominations try to send dengue and chikungunya off the annals of history! It's a slippery slope, next thing you know they'll want to use this technology will be used to get rid of those cute little malaria protozoans!

  10. Re: So.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hello my honey, hello my baby...hello my ragtime gal...