6 ms·
Haven't we been trying to genetically alter entire species to wipe them out already? I thought the plan was to make mosquitoes genetically sterile or infertile
by elfexec 7y ago
Haven't we been trying to genetically alter entire species to wipe them out already? I thought the plan was to make mosquitoes genetically sterile or infertile and wipe them out forever?
"Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes"
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11536074 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11536074
But I suspect livestock, pets and humans would be the most likely candidates for "entire species genetic modification".
If we could genetically alter humans, pigs, etc to be resistent to the flu, wouldn't we do it?
- zionic 7y agoIIRC Only a something like 3/30 mosquito species bite humans. We could wipe those out without impacting the food chain.
- beerandt 7y agoThey tried it this year, and surprise surprise, not all of the ones that were supposed to die actually died, (or didn't become sick enough to become sterile) resulting in some "artificial" DNA now wild in the breeding gene pool. It was supposed to be limited to sterile males or fathers that could only offspring sterile males. Actual impact TBD. But population did decrease significantly for months.