Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I’m curious what people’s thoughts are on this: Quote Scientists have launched a major new phase in the testing of a controversial genetically modified organism: a mosquito designed to quickly spread a genetic mutation lethal to its own species, NPR has learned. For the first time, researchers have begun large-scale releases of the engineered insects, into a high-security laboratory in Terni, Italy. "This will really be a breakthrough experiment," says Ruth Mueller, an entomologist who runs the lab. "It's a historic moment." The goal is to see if the mosquitoes could eventually provide a powerful new weapon to help eradicate malaria in Africa, where most cases occur. "It's very exciting," Mueller says. NPR was the only news organization allowed into the lab to witness the moment the releases began in early February. The lab was specially built to evaluate the modified insects in as close to a natural environment as possible without the risk of releasing them into the wild, about which there are deep concerns regarding unforeseen effects on the environment. "This is an experimental technology which could have devastating impacts," says Dana Perls of Friends of the Earth, an environmental group that's part of an international coalition fighting this new generation of modified organisms. To prevent any unforeseen effects on the environment, scientists have always tried to keep genetically engineered organisms from spreading their mutations. But in this case, researchers want the modification to spread. So they engineered mosquitoes with a "gene drive." A gene drive is like a "selfish gene," Mueller says, because it doesn't follow the normal rules of genetics. Normally, traits are passed to only half of all offspring. With the gene drive, nearly all the progeny inherit the modification. "All the offspring. All the children — the mosquito children — have this modification," Mueller says. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/02/20/693735499/scientists-release-controversial-genetically-modified-mosquitoes-in-high-securit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rippounet Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMjQ3hA9mEA That's the kind of bad idea that could somehow have even worse consequences than I can imagine, and I have a pretty vivid imagination. Also it seems incredibly arrogant of humans to want to eradicate mosquitoes because of malaria. I would have thought our species was starting to learn its lesson by now. Obviously it's not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I'm on board with it. Our species is such a collective group of fuck-ups anyway that I don't think the potential risk of extinction via unintended side effects or consequences is that big a downside. And if it works out, awesome, mosquitoes suck even more than we do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueMetis Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 18 minutes ago, Rippounet said: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMjQ3hA9mEA We'll just ignore I guess that Malcolm's analysis was crap and the reason everything bad happened wasn't "life finds a way" but "the people who built this place were idiots and didn't apply basic critical thinking." In any event hope this test goes well. Fuck mosquito's. Also is it just me or does anyone else hear names like " Friends of the Earth" or "Health of Mother Earth Foundation" and start getting kind of worried. Like I'm reminding of the dumb ass activists from 28 days later that attacked the lab and caused the rage virus to be released. Or in real world examples the Greenpeace assholes who tore up experimental GM rice, or the idiots who release animals from fur farms after which they often die because they can't hack it in the wild, which is actually the best case scenario because they're often not local species. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mlle. Zabzie Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I want to eliminate malaria. I really do, but this seems like it would have SO MANY unintended consequences. Like, food web said what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Wait, wait, wait. I thought we WEREN'T supposed to kill insects now? But we're also training them to kill each other. I'm so confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 7 minutes ago, DMC said: Wait, wait, wait. I thought we WEREN'T supposed to kill insects now? But we're also training them to kill each other. I'm so confused. It’s one of the many necessary steps to achieving the goal of having sharks with frickin laser beams on their heads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rippounet Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 28 minutes ago, TrueMetis said: We'll just ignore I guess that Malcolm's analysis was crap It was much better in the book. #booksnobbismforever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueMetis Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 4 minutes ago, Rippounet said: It was much better in the book. #booksnobbismforever It really wasn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rippounet Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 5 minutes ago, TrueMetis said: It really wasn't. How... How dare you insult such a great piece of literature! 12-year-old me is deeply hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 18 minutes ago, Rippounet said: It was much better in the book. #booksnobbismforever 13 minutes ago, TrueMetis said: It really wasn't. It really was. Book Malcolm is so much darker. And somehow book Muldoon is even more BAMF. And why did they flip the kids’ roles in the movie? And why don’t a lot more people die in the movie? And can we get to the real question: Why was book Sarah so awesome while movie Sarah was an idiot? Also, why did the stretch The Lost World into four freaking movies? So many questions left unanswered….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueMetis Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I'm not saying that the book itself wasn't better than the movie, it was. I'm saying Malcolm's chaos theory bollocks was still bollocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace, Extat Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I cannot condone the killing of mosquitoes. Without them how will humans be cloned from partial Dolphin DNA by the inheritors of the planet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflicting Thought Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 How could scientist think this is a good idea??. Just the posible ramifications. Ever sense i read about this like 2 years ago, i have thought of the incredible short sightness of it all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartIheartTesla Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 While this is 'Man' playing God and killing off mosquitoes, note that humans have also caused the proliferation of mosquitoes through climate change. Not specifically in Africa, mind, but in regions much further north such as Alaska. In fact, in the coming years they may pose big problems to caribou, reindeer etc. I dont know the answer to the latter problem, but it may be through the former. The history of humanity is full of examples of us causing (and temporarily) also solving the same problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 It seems really weird that they want to both change the way that the females eat - which would remove the ability for the mosquitos to spread malaria - AND make them sterile. Is the sterility just to ensure that the genes don't spread past a generation? Otherwise it seems like just making the former the most likely gene would have the same effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueMetis Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Isn't the change in the way they eat the cause of the sterility? IIRC females need to suck blood to lay eggs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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