3 ms·

I got downvoted before for this but I say it again: To fight against evolutionary pressure is a stupid idea. What could possibly go wrong?

bedobi 5y ago
This is an invasive species, it didn't evolve there
- tzs 5y ago
  A species that evolves in one habitat and gets moved to another doesn't stop evolving.
HenryBemis 5y ago
The "What could possibly go wrong?" is a question we need to be asking on almost everything. This is why we look both ways when we cross a one-way street. The weak point in this case is that this happened initially in Brazil (below average on: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-corrupt-countries https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-corr...), and now in Florida. Although I 'trust' US, I cannot forget of the legalized bribing called "Lobbying". When $bn roll, politicians roll over. USA is also missing from the above list. In this specific case, in the worst case, an aerial mosquito spraying plane can fix this in a couple of days, killing majority of insects in the area (even the beneficial ones) and the 'damage' is contained. It's not like they will evolve to become "Mimic" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119675/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119675/) within a couple of weeks.
newdude116 5y ago
I don't understand the downvote again. I makes me wonder about the education and intelligence of the average HN Reader. The article says nothing about the technology Oxitec uses. I checked, and as suspeced, they use a "gene drive" or a "mutagenic chain reaction" https://corporateeurope.org/en/2019/06/efsa-gene-drive-working-group-fails-independence-test https://corporateeurope.org/en/2019/06/efsa-gene-drive-worki... This is a very smart technology that was invented and does not exists in nature to my best knowledge. So you throw this unique genetic mechanism not against the mosquitos, but in fact you have evolutionary pressure against you. In the best case, they become resistant, in the worst case you end up with total other effects in total other organism that acquired this mechanism. An nuclear bomb explosion is limited in location and time. This genetic mechanism, once released, is potentially unlimited in location and time. So serious question, what could possibly go wrong?
- neogodless 5y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html > Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading. Just make your points the best that you can, and you'll avoid downvotes about spending half your comment talking about downvotes or attacking "the education and intelligence of the average HN Reader."

bedobi 5y ago

This is an invasive species, it didn't evolve there

tzs 5y ago
A species that evolves in one habitat and gets moved to another doesn't stop evolving.

HenryBemis 5y ago

The "What could possibly go wrong?" is a question we need to be asking on almost everything. This is why we look both ways when we cross a one-way street. The weak point in this case is that this happened initially in Brazil (below average on: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-corrupt-countries https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-corr...), and now in Florida. Although I 'trust' US, I cannot forget of the legalized bribing called "Lobbying". When $bn roll, politicians roll over. USA is also missing from the above list. In this specific case, in the worst case, an aerial mosquito spraying plane can fix this in a couple of days, killing majority of insects in the area (even the beneficial ones) and the 'damage' is contained. It's not like they will evolve to become "Mimic" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119675/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119675/) within a couple of weeks.

newdude116 5y ago

I don't understand the downvote again. I makes me wonder about the education and intelligence of the average HN Reader. The article says nothing about the technology Oxitec uses. I checked, and as suspeced, they use a "gene drive" or a "mutagenic chain reaction" https://corporateeurope.org/en/2019/06/efsa-gene-drive-working-group-fails-independence-test https://corporateeurope.org/en/2019/06/efsa-gene-drive-worki... This is a very smart technology that was invented and does not exists in nature to my best knowledge. So you throw this unique genetic mechanism not against the mosquitos, but in fact you have evolutionary pressure against you. In the best case, they become resistant, in the worst case you end up with total other effects in total other organism that acquired this mechanism. An nuclear bomb explosion is limited in location and time. This genetic mechanism, once released, is potentially unlimited in location and time. So serious question, what could possibly go wrong?

neogodless 5y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html > Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading. Just make your points the best that you can, and you'll avoid downvotes about spending half your comment talking about downvotes or attacking "the education and intelligence of the average HN Reader."