I get what they are aiming for, but this seems like one of those projects that is doomed to backfire. https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/19/heal...mrw-XuyeJo1YyDPUV_Ye8MVvBf7UkllYylUvAE5bVR_Hs
It has been very successful many places. This is no different than GMO crops-- not risk-free but also relatively safe and wildly misunderstood.
So the monsters mate and all the females die in larva stage, thus cutting down on biting and such. So you got pollination of swamps, but does it not eventually hurt the species? Or are there so many that it doesn't matter? I get this is one of roughly 200 species in US, but still, does it not have some long term effects?
Will be curious to see what unintended consequences happen though. I’m not against GMO but don’t think they’re the best practice either
“One study of Oxitec's mosquito release in Brazil found that the altered mosquitoes mated with some other species, according to the findings published in the journal Nature in September by researchers from Yale University. The result was hybrid mosquito offspring, which the researchers said could be hardier and pose unknown problems for mosquito control.” https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/202...enetically-modified-mosquitoes/7351597881702/
The main purpose of introducing these males is that it collapses the population overall. A bunch of females waste their time mating and trying to reproduce with these genetically modified males that genetically cannot produce viable females. So the total population greatly increases. While it may not seem like it on the face of it, you can do the math and a relatively small addition of these GMO mosquitoes really changes things over a few generations in terms of population, while definitely not changing things in terms of genetics since they just aren't a viable genetic lineage. It's genetic [ock cay]-blocking. Mosquitoes are not the only pollinators, several other insect types can pick up the slack (e.g. flies, moths, hover bees, sweat bees, etc). Also, there are still some mosquitoes around, this doesn't kill them all like a chemical spraying-- and these males themselves are the pollinators anyway, not the females. So the the population collapse is partly mitigated by the larger proportion of males in the remaining population. The long term effects are that without constantly introducing more of these, the population ultimately recovers. And that other species, like the native mosquito species that do not spread the same diseases and are not as voracious in most cases, may fill more of the ecological niche. Keep in mind that this is species-specific and the particular species being targeted is invasive. So if they are wiped out, GOOD. But they won't be, unfortunately.
https://www.sciencemagazinedigital....cle.action?articleId=1522007#articleId1522007 Given how much mosquito species have moved around the world, it is even possible that the genetics had nothing to even do with with the GMO mosquitoes at all.
Just need to get some of these and you never have to [uck fay] with these mother[uck fay]ers ever again: Crioxen Ultrasonic Mosquito Repellent - Odorless Non-Toxic Portable Pest Control Repeller Anti Insects, Bugs, Roaches w/Dragonfly Mode - for Indoor and Outdoor
There's an Italian company that has contracts all over Africa, it is indeed a billion dollar industry.
Mosquitos get me bad but no see ums when travelling out of the country have hit us hard before. There are some natural oils that help but if you dont know about them and hit a beach where they dont treat and rake they will be nasty for weeks
I can never tell with you money people whether M means thousands or millions, because you all flip flop all the time.