Fighting Mosquitoes With Genetically Modified Mosquitoes

Man you kids against this are quite ignorant of the scenario aren't ya? It's one type of mosquito that specifically carries these virus'. It isn't the whole population of mosquitos.

Instead of spouting nonsense about ecosystems you guys should attempt to look up how the ecosystem relates to specific mosquito, which is absolutely nothing. It should be common knowledge they breed specifically in urban enviroments and thus have no impact on the natural ecosystem. >_>;

I'm sure you already did an exhaustive research on the urban ecosystem.Remember what I said about dodos? Well, turning those little nonsensical buggers into meat pies is going to turn the island into a grass field in due time. Or how a bunch of parrots that scaped a zoo shipment have nested, reproduced, and are steadily decreasing the number of pidgeons in my own city. Stuff is almost unpredictable with so many variables.

It's totally justified to use it against a whole species that only brings harm... But you can't just do it light headedly like "Mutations everywhere, it's not like we are impacting much".

I'm sure you already did an exhaustive research on the urban ecosystem.Remember what I said about dodos? Well, turning those little nonsensical buggers into meat pies is going to turn the island into a grass field in due time. Or how a bunch of parrots that scaped a zoo shipment have nested, reproduced, and are steadily decreasing the number of pidgeons in my own city. Stuff is almost unpredictable with so many variables.

It's totally justified to use it against a whole species that only brings harm... But you can't just do it light headedly like "Mutations everywhere, it's not like we are impacting much".

....Ya know besides googling the most obvious question of their impact on the ecosystem? Guess what, the answer is a resounding 0. See what you don't understand and refuse to even acknowledge that these types of mosquitoes aren't even part of the ecosystem. They survive solely in human created habitats, such as spare tires, bottles, or household appliances. The only thing that eats them are gecko's/spiders/birds but none of them are a large part of any of those animals diets.

A little browsing goes a long way ey?

Source: What is the mosquitoes’ role in the environment?

The only thing that eats them are gecko's/spiders/birds but none of them are a large part of any of those animals diets.

Oh, wow, that's amazing. I guess a sentence off a google search has it all cleared up then. But before you go all defensive as usual, let me just highlight the part of my post you obviously ignore.

Stuff is almost unpredictable with so many variables.

Leave one off, and it's gonna cause a chain reaction. Of course, that one is that little thing everyone oversaw. OR not. I never said it was a bad idea, just risky.

Nobody expected that pidgeons would almost dissapear when parrots came here, yet it happened, unexpected or not.

Oh, wow, that's amazing. I guess a sentence off a google search has it all cleared up then. But before you go all defensive as usual, let me just highlight the part of my post you obviously ignore.

Defensive? Ha. You can try to undermind, I don't know, scientific fact, but the facts are there, they have no impact on the ecosystem, feel free to try to find something otherwise.

Leave one off, and it's gonna cause a chain reaction. Of course, that one is that little thing everyone oversaw. OR not. I never said it was a bad idea, just risky.

Nobody expected that pidgeons would almost dissapear when parrots came here, yet it happened, unexpected or not.

Are you pulling these examples off a list? I'm just wondering because the examples you provide all have something in common, ecosystem. Mosquito's litterally live in human domiciles, they feed off nothing but humans. Yes pidgeons in venice or new york are in heavy populated human area's but they still live outside.

Can you please provide something more reasonable besides a "what if!" or "IT COULD HAPPEN LIKE THIS ANIMAL WHOS CIRCUMSTANCES ARE ONLY SIMILAR THAT THEY ALL BELONG IN A FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM". The second being incorrect but oh well.

People have been trying to eradicate mosquitos and the diseases they carry for decades, this is just the most effective way yet. I'm all for it although I can see the possible consequences of doing this. I really think more studies should be done before they live test this all over the world, but nonetheless, good riddnce to those annoying pineappleers. Btw, for those of you acting like this is the end of the world/ecosystem food chain as we know it, there have been plenty of other species that have become extinct all over the world and the food chain has survived. The food chain is not static, but is dynamic and fairly resilient as well. The biggest issue I can see is a decrease in diseases worldwide and thus a larger human population than before. Probably the only good that was coming from mosquitos (besides feeding other animals) was that they helped keep our growing population in check.

Btw, not sure if someone has said it already....but.... inb4 there is a genetic mutation and super mosquitos start roaming the earth sucking up cows.

Can you please provide something more reasonable besides a "what if!" or "IT COULD HAPPEN LIKE THIS ANIMAL WHOS CIRCUMSTANCES ARE ONLY SIMILAR THAT THEY ALL BELONG IN A FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM". The second being incorrect but oh well.

Hollywood states that killing -one- butterfly destroys everything. Killing -all- the mosquito obviously destroys more than everything, duh.

Hollywood states that killing -one- butterfly destroys everything. Killing -all- the mosquito obviously destroys more than everything, duh.

I have an argument against that, hollywood can suck my plantain. There they both offer the same relevance

Can you please provide something more reasonable besides a "what if!" or "IT COULD HAPPEN LIKE THIS ANIMAL WHOS CIRCUMSTANCES ARE ONLY SIMILAR THAT THEY ALL BELONG IN A FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM". The second being incorrect but oh well.

How about you show evidence of the extinction of a species not impacting the ecosystem instead?

I have an argument against that, hollywood can suck my plantain. There they both offer the same relevance

BUT THERE'S A MOVIE ABOUT IT, IT MUST BE SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN!
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BUT THERE'S A MOVIE ABOUT IT, IT MUST BE SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN!
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A sound of thunder has the answers to everything in history.

Clever. I hope evolution doesn't catch up to this and it ends up like DDT.

How about you show evidence of the extinction of a species not impacting the ecosystem instead?

Clearly every extinction impacts the biodiversity of an ecosystem in some way, so I don't know what you expect him to say. No matter how large or small, everything organism affects another in some way.

Clearly every extinction impacts the biodiversity of an ecosystem in some way, so I don't know what you expect him to say. No matter how large or small, everything organism affects another in some way.

Which is what we've been saying this whole time.

God what is it with you people?

THE MOSQUITO IS SPECIFICALLY URBAN, IT HAS NO IMPACT ON THE OUTSIDE ECOSYSTEM, IT HAS NO INVOLVEMENT. IT BREEDS/LIVES IN HUMAN SPECIFIC DOMAINS, PERIOD.

I'm sorry you can't concede you're wrong alloy but the proof is in the link I posted for you in shiny blue letters. Which, is more information/proof you have posted this entire conversation. So the proof of my inaccuracy is now placed on you.

 Captain obvious reporting for duty

Aedes aegypti is quite different to other mosquitoes. It has adapted to live and breed in urban areas in close proximity to humans. The mosquito breeds in artificial containers (e.g. old tyres, pot plant trays) that collect water and feeds almost exclusively on humans for blood.

 source

[URL="http://www.eliminatedengue.com/en/FAQ.aspx?PageContentID=338"]http://www.eliminatedengue.com/en/FAQ.aspx?PageContentID=338
[/URL]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16968592

People speak as if not impacting the ecosystem is an option. We can either kill all the mosquitoes, or we won't, and nature will carry on in blessed harmony. This couldn't be further from the truth.

You want to talk about the butterfly effect? In that sense, the death of one organism affects the ecosystem similarly if its the last of its kind or one of billions.

This is not a question of intervening or not, you continuing to breathe intervenes on the level of the butterfly effect.

It's a question of intervening in a way that benefits humanity most instead of sitting on our hands and praying to gaia, as if that would prevent the earth from spinning, or from the state of species from continuing to change.

For once a species can die to benefit us. There is no consequence to wiping out these mosquitoes, forseen or unforseen, that is worse than the status quo.

i can't even comment on this quote...

Why not? Because I went so far as to say "or unforseen"? That's how severe I want my point to be. There is a cosmically minuscule chance that killing all the mosquitoes will set off a chain reaction in the universe that makes an asteroid hit Earth. There's your unforeseen negative consequence.

However, anything on an ecological level couldn't possibly be worse than the status quo as far as humanity is concerned. Say thousands of species die as a result, and some swamp turns into a desert - none of this compares with the millions who continue to die of these diseases.

Or are we going to start spending human lives on preserving some hypothetical swampland, in the absurdly unlikely chance that the death of this one species will destroy an entire ecosystem in an unforeseen manner? An ecosystem which, by the way, countless extinctions in the past did not destroy.

This is the environmentalist's dilemma. How many human lives are worth a tiger, or a tree, or a mosquito? Because it costs human lives to protect them, this might be the most poignant case of all for illustrating that point.

The answer to the environmentalist's dilemma is: you don't get to decide that you goddamn tree huggers. More power to the people defending their lives and the lives of other people.