The gene engineering technology they are using could, in just a few generations – a matter of months when it comes to mosquitoes – make every member of the species that transmits malaria here, the Anopheles coluzzii, effectively immune to the parasite.
We need a Final Solution to the mosquito question, not this hogwash
Alright we’re settling this. Upvote this comment if you’re for mosquito genocide, downvote if you’re against it.
The only good bug is a dead bug!
the people have spoken
Now all we have to do is defeat capitalism so that our voices can finally turn into action.
Fuck you Bill Gates, should have fired when you had the chance.
We need a Final Solution to the mosquito question, not this hogwash
What’s the mosquito question?
Q: How do we destroy the ecosystem?
A: by standing idly while the deadliest creature on Earth continues to kill the innocent
Humans?
humans have a propensity to believe they’re the main character
Mosquitoes are actually the main character
Mosquitoes tend to hover, not stand?
Malaria and dengue? So does that mean we eliminate all bird because of bird flu yes?
For what it’s worth, DARPA has been working on eliminating malaria carrying mosquitos specifically this in mind. Mosquitos make up a large percentage of the diet of bats, it’s true, but malaria carrying mosquitos only make up a small portion of that, primarily in areas where the disease is most prevalent.
It shouldn’t have any effect other than the genetic elimination of a disease carrying pest. It won’t affect mosquitoes getting you in the summertime because our mosquitoes aren’t the focus of this project.
Mosquitos don’t really make up a large portion of bat diets. That myth came from a study years back when scientists were trying to figure out how bats located prey not what prey did bats target
They study involved releasing a bat into a room filled solely with mosquitos, and it ate a lot of them, but that’s because it was easy to do since it was a room loaded with mosquitos, and it was the only option for food that the bat had.
The media ran with it screaming “bats can eat a hundred mosquitos an hour!” Because it made a catchy headline moreso than the actual study results.
Mosquitos make up less than 3% of a bats diet, depending on the species it can be higher though.
Bats typically prefer to eat larger insects such as moths, since it’s more calories for the effort and they are slower and easier to find than mosquitos.
They’re spreading malaria and encephalitis again.
Who’s for dinner?
No?
GM mosquitoes was tried in Florida. They cross-bred with malaria-susceptible mosquitoes to create a new variant that can out-compete ALL the local variants while also carrying malaria. Not really how they planned things to go.
Bio-engineering at this point in history where scientists are just still learning about the basics and combined with industry that wants to monetize everything … is like watching a smart teenager tearing apart a working Ferrari and telling you that they can build a better car.
Was thinking plot twist, supermosquito that spreads superdisease. Pardon me while I go cry.
Killing all the mosquitoes would be catastrophic for bird populations. Especially when you consider that not all mosquitoes transmit diseases to humans.
There are only twelve mosquito variants (out of 200) that bite and spread disease. The genetic modifications would only target these.
https://www.cdc.gov/mosquitoes/about/mosquitoes-in-the-us.html
That was what I was referring to
it really wouldn’t. they don’t have any biomass to provide nutrition with: it’s the reason they feed on blood. managing mosquito populations would increase the health (and biomass) of their blood hosts and lead to healthier wildlife populations
Would their niche not be filled by other insects?
They make up a huge chunk of biomass. It’s more likely to cause a food chain collapse.
“isn’t critical to any plants humans rely on”
that’s so fucking dumb. so, so, so, so, so fucking dumb.
Yeah no kidding, way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with such a shitty argument.
