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Right at this moment, yes, but after infecting a billion fruit flies, evolution would have given it a billion chances to jump species. Seems enormously irrespon
by ijustlovemath 3y ago
Right at this moment, yes, but after infecting a billion fruit flies, evolution would have given it a billion chances to jump species. Seems enormously irresponsible to release a fungus like this.
- b112 3y agoAnd fruit flies are often used, due to their short life cycle, for genetic experiments. They evolve fast. Case in point, they are now known to metabolize ddt, and I think this was discovered 20 years ago. And any fungus will try to evolve with them... and theoretically the local species have no defense?
- Jedd 3y agoIt's surprisingly difficult to get an estimate on the fruit fly population of California, or even just an average 'per unit area' figure. Anyway, this fungus is already endemic in California, and I believe California has a major problem with this pest. I'd be surprised if there weren't at least a billion fruit flies active in California mid-summer. As I said in a sibling comment, let's do some safety validation & deployment testing, but also let's not forget this is already out there.