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Mosquitoes Genetically Modified To Crash Species That Spreads Malaria (npr.org)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that a controversial new kind of genetic engineering can rapidly spread a self-destructive genetic modification through a complex species. The scientists used the revolutionary gene-editing tool known as CRISPR to engineer mosquitoes with a "gene drive," which rapidly transmitted a sterilizing mutation through other members of the mosquito's species. After mosquitoes carrying the mutation were released into cages filled with unmodified mosquitoes in a high-security basement laboratory in London, virtually all of the insects were wiped out, according to a report in Nature Biotechnology. The mosquitoes were created in the hopes of using them as a potent new weapon in the long, frustrating fight against malaria. Malaria remains one of the world's deadliest diseases, killing more than 400,000 people every year, mostly children younger than 5 years old. What's encouraging is that the mosquitos reportedly did not appear to further mutate in a way that would diminish the effectiveness of the engineered mutation. "But the researchers stressed that many years of additional research are needed to further test the safety and effectiveness of the approach before anyone attempts to release these mosquitos or any other organisms created this way into the wild," reports NPR.
Actually....
YOU ARE the biggest loser on Slashdot...
I can't imagine what that must be like!
You copy and paste your worthless soul on every page.
I'd say it's a shame, but you must realize your wasting your precious life on this Earth contributing absolutely nothing, and somehow you think that trolling slashdot is where you were meant to be.
It gives you a sense of purpose, you see what your doing as an accomplishment.
You couldn't be more wrong.
It's painfully obvious you've never done anything constructive with your life, and you are perfectly content walking virtual walls and smearing your shit around only to look at it with pride, the pride of someone who has never done anything, and will never do anything with their life.
Print this out, tape it to your monitor, and read it every time you press Ctrl+V.
10 years from now when you have even less than nothing to be proud of, feel free to read it again, and wonder where you could have been had you spent your time doing something (ANYTHING) besides pasting stupid shit to a forum where everyone would rather see you disappear forever.