Persia Posted November 21, 2010 #1 Share Posted November 21, 2010 For The First Time, Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes Are Released Into The Wild The transgenic animals are designed to help stamp out dengue fever in the Cayman Islands http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-11/mutant-mosquitoes-nearly-wipe-out-their-population-and-diseases-they-carry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalhead Posted November 21, 2010 #2 Share Posted November 21, 2010 That's amazing. Humans next! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automaton Posted November 22, 2010 #3 Share Posted November 22, 2010 What could possibly go wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classified Document Posted November 22, 2010 #4 Share Posted November 22, 2010 Great can't wait for Jurasic Park 4! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitana2010 Posted November 22, 2010 #5 Share Posted November 22, 2010 (edited) lol, I agree with metalhead.. at least some humans anyway! But really, what is the point of this? Wouldn't the males lose the desire to mate since they are sterile (like nuetered dogs).. so wouldn't the female just find another male? Besides, mosquitos only live like a year (idk) so yea.. seems kinda pointless. Edited November 22, 2010 by Kitana2010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Kurtz Posted November 22, 2010 #6 Share Posted November 22, 2010 I wonder if they are genetically enginered not to carry malaria? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacho Posted November 22, 2010 #7 Share Posted November 22, 2010 Male mosquitoes are not a threat as its the female mosquitoes that bite us and spread malaria. A female mosquito will mate only once in her life and if she mates with a sterile male the eggs will not develop into mosquitoes. The males do not loose their desire to mate they just shoot blanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlehawk Posted November 22, 2010 #8 Share Posted November 22, 2010 This is one genetic modification that I approve of! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted November 22, 2010 #9 Share Posted November 22, 2010 Male mosquitoes are not a threat as its the female mosquitoes that bite us and spread malaria. A female mosquito will mate only once in her life and if she mates with a sterile male the eggs will not develop into mosquitoes. The males do not loose their desire to mate they just shoot blanks. Thank you for adding some sense to this discussion. I, for one, am excited to see this happening. I hope in the near future states (or cities) could purchase GE mosquitoes to release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac E Posted November 22, 2010 #10 Share Posted November 22, 2010 I'm glad they had the foresight to make this temporary. There is no need to exterminate them, only reduce their numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfrmboy Posted November 22, 2010 #11 Share Posted November 22, 2010 I hope fleas are next on the list! Without males being useful for reproduction is it possible they may reproduce asexually? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoIverine Posted November 22, 2010 #12 Share Posted November 22, 2010 I hope fleas are next on the list! Without males being useful for reproduction is it possible they may reproduce asexually? Our cat recently infested our apartment with fleas, it was a nightmare, I could definitely do without them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rashore Posted November 22, 2010 #13 Share Posted November 22, 2010 lol, this is weird... Just the other night, I was watching the TV series Masters of Horror. It was an episode like this... The scientists messed with bugs to slow down breeding.. by the end of the episode with all sorts of killing human females, it ended up that aliens were doing to us what we were doing to the bugs! It's a weird science is truer than fiction story for me. Even if all the skeeters are shooting blanks.. It isn't such a hot idea to introduce lab animals into wild populations in general. Not that I think aliens are going to do it to us. Just we should probably have already learned out lesson about introducing animals into a place that aren't naturally supposed to be there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liteness Posted November 22, 2010 #14 Share Posted November 22, 2010 lol, this is weird... Just the other night, I was watching the TV series Masters of Horror. It was an episode like this... The scientists messed with bugs to slow down breeding.. by the end of the episode with all sorts of killing human females, it ended up that aliens were doing to us what we were doing to the bugs! It's a weird science is truer than fiction story for me. Even if all the skeeters are shooting blanks.. It isn't such a hot idea to introduce lab animals into wild populations in general. Not that I think aliens are going to do it to us. Just we should probably have already learned out lesson about introducing animals into a place that aren't naturally supposed to be there. I agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah G. Posted November 22, 2010 #15 Share Posted November 22, 2010 (edited) Still like DDT better. http://www.matrixbookstore.biz/ddt.htm Edited November 22, 2010 by Hatch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbyte Posted November 22, 2010 #16 Share Posted November 22, 2010 I saw this on the home page and I was like "We're all ****ed" Then I read on to see it was to stamp out a disease on an island so I was like thats not too bad, as I thought they were released by mistake or they escaped. After that I thought "I hope they made them sterile", then I read on to find out they were indeed sterile and thats the only thing they genetically modified. The GM them to make the sterile and thats it. Even if a few of them aren't sterile they are then just normal mosquitoes. To me thats pretty safe. Fare play I say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoIverine Posted November 22, 2010 #17 Share Posted November 22, 2010 Zombie virus that now spreads by way of genetically altered mosquito, great, and on a monday...just perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted November 22, 2010 #18 Share Posted November 22, 2010 lol, this is weird... Just the other night, I was watching the TV series Masters of Horror. It was an episode like this... The scientists messed with bugs to slow down breeding.. by the end of the episode with all sorts of killing human females, it ended up that aliens were doing to us what we were doing to the bugs! It's a weird science is truer than fiction story for me. Even if all the skeeters are shooting blanks.. It isn't such a hot idea to introduce lab animals into wild populations in general. Not that I think aliens are going to do it to us. Just we should probably have already learned out lesson about introducing animals into a place that aren't naturally supposed to be there. I disagree. This is a great idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaneSilvermoon Posted November 22, 2010 #19 Share Posted November 22, 2010 (edited) Not that I think aliens are going to do it to us. Just we should probably have already learned out lesson about introducing animals into a place that aren't naturally supposed to be there. I would agree if this were introducing a species into a location it does not already exist in. Here it does not. And in this case in my opinion it's a wonderful idea if it works. We've tried this exact same thing before with other insects and failed. However with the breeding habits of mosquitoes it seems reasonable. ::edit:: Interesting little tidbit I found while looking further into this. The mosquitoes causing the disease problem in the Caymans, which we are genetically modifying to control the disease spread, are not even native to the Caymans at all. They are actually a species that we carried in and spread into the area just a few years ago. Edited November 22, 2010 by BaneSilvermoon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automaton Posted November 23, 2010 #20 Share Posted November 23, 2010 (edited) It all sounds fine and dandy, seems like a good plan. I just have a baaaad feeling about this. Edit: just read the edit above: ::edit::Interesting little tidbit I found while looking further into this. The mosquitoes causing the disease problem in the Caymans, which we are genetically modifying to control the disease spread, are not even native to the Caymans at all. They are actually a species that we carried in and spread into the area just a few years ago. Well that is interesting. So basically we're just covering ourr butts to fix a mistake we already made? Heheh, again, what could possibly go wrong? Edited November 23, 2010 by Automaton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
27vet Posted November 23, 2010 #21 Share Posted November 23, 2010 I don't think any insect species has ever gone extinct? The sterile male offspring will have to be hardier than regular ones in order to out multiply them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmotwani Posted November 23, 2010 #22 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Yeah, what a great idea. I am quite certain that there will be no long-term adverse results of any significance. We have done a risk analysis and the future looks so bright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unseen Posted November 23, 2010 #23 Share Posted November 23, 2010 lol, I agree with metalhead.. at least some humans anyway! But really, what is the point of this? Wouldn't the males lose the desire to mate since they are sterile (like nuetered dogs).. so wouldn't the female just find another male? Besides, mosquitos only live like a year (idk) so yea.. seems kinda pointless. If that,Mosquitoes live for a few months,"WARM Months".Still kinda pointless,since its the female Mosqitoes that bite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoIverine Posted November 23, 2010 #24 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Heheh, again, what could possibly go wrong? LOL, famous last words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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