Slashdot Mirror
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.
This is a case of where the benefits are clear, if iffy, and the negatives are unclear, and also iffy. Don't mistake that as a logical reason to pretend any negatives don't or can't exist.
Maybe Douglas Adams was right, mankind's first and biggest mistake was when we came down from the trees.
You know what I hate?
Someone does something using physics, and that's great.
Someone does something using chemistry, and that's great.
Someone does something using biology, and everyone rushes to make the overused comment you just made and act as if they have, just by sitting on their couch and speculating, discovered the terrible flaw with the idea that those arrogant scientists who spent years in their field never thought of.
Something is wrong here.
I predict that everything will go exactly according to plan. There will be no unforeseen consequences. Nope. No way Jose.
Time to calm down.
This has been done for years, using irradiated males to breed with females which then lay sterile eggs.
So far, no monster mosquitoes.
It should be obvious to you that this plan will result in a self eradicating strain.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
with no known detrimental effect (other than allowing human populations to grow).
Arguably, that is a detrimental effect. It allows human population to grow unchecked, and human society has historically adapted slowly to needing to provide its own such checks.
Neither do infertile mosquitoes; your point?
Really, you think there's no products of modern chemistry in your backyard?
And there have been risk assessments done, by regulators, taking into account the scientific data. Risk assessments are not something for Joe Bloe and his GED who reads NaturalNews and thinks that "GMO mosquitoes" means that they're going to bite his children and spread a zombie plague.
Contrary to popular belief, changing the bottom of a food chain rarely has major consequences; it's the changing of the top of a food chain that tends to have the biggest consequences. The higher up the food chain you go, not only do you have more of a profound impact on the landscape (look at how radically, say, deer overpopulation transforms a whole ecosystem), but also the more species tend to be generalists rather than specialists. Generalists means the ability to switch more readily between food sources, meaning changes further down have little impact on them. But if you eliminate a top predator from an area, the consequences further down can be profound.
I would have you sign my banana, but it's on the roof.
That's because most physics and chemistry experiments don't breed and multiply.
Neither do infertile mosquitoes; your point?
That's assuming everything goes to plan. Also, these mosquitoes aren't infertile, they produce offspring that are supposed to die before reaching breeding age. What happens if a small percentage don't?
We're talking about mosquitoes. I'll accept the risk.
If you perturb them, it just re-stabilizes at a new equilibrium point.
Right. But that may takes hundreds of thousands or millions of years and a mass extinction. That new equilibrium point may not be something we want, and it may be completely devoid of humans. A desert is in equilibrium. So is Antarctica. So yes, the environment and the Earth will trudge along and find a stable point, but that doesn't give us free reign to introduce invasive species.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
Except for the fact that 1 affluent human uses more resources than 10 not so affluent.