8 ms·

It is fascinating that the article does not mention this, if it is true.

walterbell 5y ago
The 2019 paper [1] has more details. It received an editorial "Expression of Concern" in 2020 [2], but no correction was issued to the paper. [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-49660-6 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-49660-6 [2] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-62398-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-62398-w
- avodonosov 5y ago
  Yes, the gizmodo.com article has this information. However, the concerns about the critical publication are due to the very broad conclusions it makes. But the mere facts of: - lasting genetic contamination of the mosquito population - failure to erradicate the Aedes aegypti in Brazil are they true? > According to Oxitec, the “OX513A self-limiting gene does not persist in the environment,” and that the “limited 3-5% survival of the OX513A strain means that, within a few generations, these introduced genes are completely eliminated from the environment.” That is about the self-limiting gene. How about the other genes?
  - asdff 5y ago
    The others would be the same as the unmodified Aedes aegypti.
    - avodonosov 5y ago
      why?
  - neves 5y ago
    The Dengue epidemic stopped in Brazil after the release of the GM mosquito. But it also receded in places where the mosquito were not released.
akie 5y ago
My wife did her PhD on mosquitos and malaria. She's been ranting about genetically modified mosquitos for as long as I know her, claiming it cannot and never will work, mainly because mosquitos have an insane amount of offspring and a very short lifespan. They adapt so, so, so quickly. A male mosquito lives a week, a female mosquito a few months at best, and they produce 300-600 eggs per female mosquito on average. Can you imagine the exponential growth and recovery rates of these animals? It's like sharing your grandmother with 45000 cousins, and each of your grandmother's 299 siblings has 45000 grandchildren as well. It's a big family very quickly. There are stories of countries who tried to eradicate mosquitos and reduced the mosquito population to 1% of what it originally was, only to jump back to 100% within two years (or so, my memory is hazy) after the program stopped because politicians had declared the program a success. Mosquitos man. I'm not sure we'll ever get rid of them. They will probably outlive us.
- andy_ppp 5y ago
  How is the Earth not entirely made out of Mosquitoes then? What are the things that currently limit their growth, maybe it would be good to find out and use those? Also I’ve been reading up on how Gene Drives work, it’s very interesting but I’ll just leave the Wikipedia page here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_drive https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_drive
  - 411111111111111 5y ago
    > What are the things that currently limit their growth, maybe it would be good to find out and use those? Now I'm getting worried that some ancient space-ring turns up https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_Array https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_Array
  - paganel 5y ago
    > What are the things that currently limit their growth, maybe it would be good to find out and use those? Loss of habitat, for example.
  - Taek 5y ago
    Food. Mosquitoes need blood to reproduce (among other things) and there's a finite supply of that. This caps the population. A very rapid reproduction rate means that they can quickly go from any population size to the max capacity of the environment they are in.

The 2019 paper [1] has more details. It received an editorial "Expression of Concern" in 2020 [2], but no correction was issued to the paper. [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-49660-6 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-49660-6 [2] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-62398-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-62398-w

avodonosov 5y ago
Yes, the gizmodo.com article has this information. However, the concerns about the critical publication are due to the very broad conclusions it makes. But the mere facts of: - lasting genetic contamination of the mosquito population - failure to erradicate the Aedes aegypti in Brazil are they true? > According to Oxitec, the “OX513A self-limiting gene does not persist in the environment,” and that the “limited 3-5% survival of the OX513A strain means that, within a few generations, these introduced genes are completely eliminated from the environment.” That is about the self-limiting gene. How about the other genes?
- asdff 5y ago
  The others would be the same as the unmodified Aedes aegypti.
  - avodonosov 5y ago
    why?
- neves 5y ago
  The Dengue epidemic stopped in Brazil after the release of the GM mosquito. But it also receded in places where the mosquito were not released.

akie 5y ago

My wife did her PhD on mosquitos and malaria. She's been ranting about genetically modified mosquitos for as long as I know her, claiming it cannot and never will work, mainly because mosquitos have an insane amount of offspring and a very short lifespan. They adapt so, so, so quickly. A male mosquito lives a week, a female mosquito a few months at best, and they produce 300-600 eggs per female mosquito on average. Can you imagine the exponential growth and recovery rates of these animals? It's like sharing your grandmother with 45000 cousins, and each of your grandmother's 299 siblings has 45000 grandchildren as well. It's a big family very quickly. There are stories of countries who tried to eradicate mosquitos and reduced the mosquito population to 1% of what it originally was, only to jump back to 100% within two years (or so, my memory is hazy) after the program stopped because politicians had declared the program a success. Mosquitos man. I'm not sure we'll ever get rid of them. They will probably outlive us.

andy_ppp 5y ago
How is the Earth not entirely made out of Mosquitoes then? What are the things that currently limit their growth, maybe it would be good to find out and use those? Also I’ve been reading up on how Gene Drives work, it’s very interesting but I’ll just leave the Wikipedia page here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_drive https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_drive
- 411111111111111 5y ago
  > What are the things that currently limit their growth, maybe it would be good to find out and use those? Now I'm getting worried that some ancient space-ring turns up https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_Array https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_Array
- paganel 5y ago
  > What are the things that currently limit their growth, maybe it would be good to find out and use those? Loss of habitat, for example.
- Taek 5y ago
  Food. Mosquitoes need blood to reproduce (among other things) and there's a finite supply of that. This caps the population. A very rapid reproduction rate means that they can quickly go from any population size to the max capacity of the environment they are in.