FloriduhSkeeters

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hal2kilo

hal2kilo

Lifer
Feb 24, 2009
23,442
10,333
136
Lost_in_the_HTTP said:
www.foxnews.com

Florida Keys to see release of first genetically modified mosquitoes

In an effort to fight insect-borne viruses like Zika, dengue fever and malaria, genetically modified mosquitoes are set to be released in the Florida Keys.
www.foxnews.com www.foxnews.com


Gee, what could possibly go wrong?
Click to expand...
Risks seem minimal.
Pardon my flippant response, but as long as they aren't doing something to humans, like modifying us to make us repugnant to them, I don't see it as a problem. They've been sterilizing male insects both chemically and with radiation to make them sterile for other insect problems, already.
 
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woolfe9998

woolfe9998

Lifer
Apr 8, 2013
16,188
14,092
136
So THAT'S what turned all the frogs gay out there. They're getting bitten by genetically modified mosquitos!
 
Lost_in_the_HTTP

Lost_in_the_HTTP

Lifer
Nov 17, 2019
10,813
6,475
136
Will they be developing armor?

this-crazy-mosquito-sculpture-sits-on-a-gazprom-owned-oil-field-in-western-siberia.jpg
 
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M

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
72,435
6,091
126
woolfe9998 said:
So THAT'S what turned all the frogs gay out there. They're getting bitten by genetically modified mosquitos!
Click to expand...
I'm betting they will release sterilized males and they don't bite. This is a brilliant way to fight mosquitoes and has been around for quite a while.
 
woolfe9998

woolfe9998

Lifer
Apr 8, 2013
16,188
14,092
136
Moonbeam said:
I'm betting they will release sterilized males and they don't bite. This is a brilliant way to fight mosquitoes and has been around for quite a while.
Click to expand...

So in other words, we need another explanation for all the gay frogs? Damn.
 
woolfe9998

woolfe9998

Lifer
Apr 8, 2013
16,188
14,092
136
Moonbeam said:
Probably plastic like what is making humans sterile. Hormone mimicry.
Click to expand...

You did get the reference to conspiracy theories with my "gay frogs" joke, right?

The reason I thought of that joke specifically was because here we have an article which 1) is on Fox News aka conspiracy central, and 2) says that they are releasing genetically modified insects into the environment.

If there isn't now a conspiracy theory attached to this story, there will be by tomorrow morning, if not by midnight.

Best bets for this round of bullshit bingo:

1. The insects will introduce a gayification chemical into our bloodstreams.
2. The insects will introduce a microship which allows you to be tracked by Hilary Clinton and her cabal of satanic pedophiles.
 
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M

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
72,435
6,091
126
woolfe9998 said:
You did get the reference to conspiracy theories with my "gay frogs" joke, right?

The reason I thought of that joke specifically was because here we have an article which 1) is on Fox News aka conspiracy central, and 2) says that they are releasing genetically modified insects into the environment.

If there isn't now a conspiracy theory attached to this story, there will be by tomorrow morning, if not by midnight.

Best bets for this round of bullshit bingo:

1. The insects will introduce a gayification chemical into our bloodstreams.
2. The insects will introduce a microship which allows you to be tracked by Hilary Clinton and her cabal of satanic pedophiles.
Click to expand...
I know, but between you and me I was just trying to distract from that. The buzz around the genetics lab is that the mosquitoes have been engineered to inject covid vaccine.
 
T

tweaker2

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
14,537
6,975
136
Been done in Hawaii on more than a few invasive species with varying levels of success.

Bottom line is always the cost vs. how much of a threat is being imposed on the environment and ultimately the people who live in it.

For example, we have a small colony of wallabies that made a home in Kalihi Valley on the island of O'ahu. They got loose over a hundred years ago and their impact has been minimal to the point of not being a threat yet we do have bird and marine invaders that we would very much like to get rid of. A couple of fish species had actually been brought in as a food source by our own gov't agencies that unilaterally decided it would be a good idea, of which spectacularly backfired when it was found out those introduced species would be competing with native species for the foods they consume and that the local populace didn't like to eat those species of fish.
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,597
29,230
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This is a good thing. These mosquitoes are sterile so won't be introducing anything untoward into the skeeter population. The only real concern is what might happen to the food table; but as I recall, mosquitoes represent something less than 0.01% of any other species' diet (primary predator is bats, I think).

...mosquitoes simply provide nothing necessary or useful to nature, from any way you look at it. Plus, if you specifically target the disease carriers (something like only 5% or less of all mosquito species), you're not really hurting anything.
 
MtnMan

MtnMan

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2004
8,751
7,867
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What would really benefit Florida is to breed skeeters that will vaccinate their prey with COVID vaccine.
 
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hal2kilo

hal2kilo

Lifer
Feb 24, 2009
23,442
10,333
136
zinfamous said:
This is a good thing. These mosquitoes are sterile so won't be introducing anything untoward into the skeeter population. The only real concern is what might happen to the food table; but as I recall, mosquitoes represent something less than 0.01% of any other species' diet (primary predator is bats, I think).

...mosquitoes simply provide nothing necessary or useful to nature, from any way you look at it. Plus, if you specifically target the disease carriers (something like only 5% or less of all mosquito species), you're not really hurting anything.
Click to expand...
My Purple Martins have returned for the tenth time since I put up my bird house. They will take care of my skeeters. Out on the deck this morning I saw 4 pairs circling, diving and swoopin on all flying critters..

27695361476_2faaa4e5ec_b (2).jpg
 
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Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
72,435
6,091
126
tweaker2 said:
Been done in Hawaii on more than a few invasive species with varying levels of success.

Bottom line is always the cost vs. how much of a threat is being imposed on the environment and ultimately the people who live in it.

For example, we have a small colony of wallabies that made a home in Kalihi Valley on the island of O'ahu. They got loose over a hundred years ago and their impact has been minimal to the point of not being a threat yet we do have bird and marine invaders that we would very much like to get rid of. A couple of fish species had actually been brought in as a food source by our own gov't agencies that unilaterally decided it would be a good idea, of which spectacularly backfired when it was found out those introduced species would be competing with native species for the foods they consume and that the local populace didn't like to eat those species of fish.
Click to expand...
Hawaii used to be mosquito free until the fucking white man brought them in their water barrels.
 
GodisanAtheist

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,820
7,186
136
woolfe9998 said:
You did get the reference to conspiracy theories with my "gay frogs" joke, right?

The reason I thought of that joke specifically was because here we have an article which 1) is on Fox News aka conspiracy central, and 2) says that they are releasing genetically modified insects into the environment.

If there isn't now a conspiracy theory attached to this story, there will be by tomorrow morning, if not by midnight.

Best bets for this round of bullshit bingo:

1. The insects will introduce a gayification chemical into our bloodstreams.
2. The insects will introduce a microship which allows you to be tracked by Hilary Clinton and her cabal of satanic pedophiles.
Click to expand...

3. The insects with swap genders then insist on competing in women's sports.
 
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zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,597
29,230
146
MtnMan said:
What would really benefit Florida is to breed skeeters that will vaccinate their prey with COVID vaccine.
Click to expand...

you know....that actually isn't outside of the realm of possibility. We've already hijacked bacteria to generate things like anti-malaria drugs and even petrol as "waste products." The mRNA technology that has been around for more than 10 years now and deployed in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, was established by doing essentially what you are suggesting.

...there really isn't that much of a theoretical and applied barrier to preventing this sort of engineering to hijack female mosquitoes into delivering beneficial antibodies whenever they take a blood meal from whatever beast they find.

The real barrier here is ethics, and it is indeed a big one. Fortunately, we have places in the world like Florida, where treating the population like a giant experiment probably isn't that big of a deal for the rest of us. ... :p
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,597
29,230
146
hal2kilo said:
My Purple Martins have returned for the tenth time since I put up my bird house. They will take care of my skeeters. Out on the deck this morning I saw 4 pairs circling, diving and swoopin on all flying critters..

View attachment 43330
Click to expand...

gorgeous critters. I don't think I'm coastal enough to see the type of swallows we get around here; or maybe I'm just not paying attention. I have a decent number of bats in the back yard, and I keep telling myself I'm going to put up more bat boxes.
 
SMOGZINN

SMOGZINN

Lifer
Jun 17, 2005
14,202
4,401
136
Lost_in_the_HTTP said:
www.foxnews.com

Florida Keys to see release of first genetically modified mosquitoes

In an effort to fight insect-borne viruses like Zika, dengue fever and malaria, genetically modified mosquitoes are set to be released in the Florida Keys.
www.foxnews.com www.foxnews.com


Gee, what could possibly go wrong?
Click to expand...
Probably a lot less then the widespread use of chemicals to kill them. It is almost impossible to create a chemical that targets mosquitoes but not other insects, so our spraying just decimates entire ecosystems.
 
Lost_in_the_HTTP

Lost_in_the_HTTP

Lifer
Nov 17, 2019
10,813
6,475
136
zinfamous said:
...there really isn't that much of a theoretical and applied barrier to preventing this sort of engineering to hijack female mosquitoes into delivering beneficial antibodies whenever they take a blood meal from whatever beast they find.

The real barrier here is ethics, and it is indeed a big one. Fortunately, we have places in the world like Florida, where treating the population like a giant experiment probably isn't that big of a deal for the rest of us. ... :p
Click to expand...

Maybe that's why Floriduh is Floriduh?


 
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