[HN Gopher] Scientists genetically engineer a lethal mosquito ST...
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Scientists genetically engineer a lethal mosquito STD to combat
malaria
Author : burnt-resistor
Score : 36 points
Date : 2025-06-16 18:13 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (newatlas.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (newatlas.com)
| User23 wrote:
| Next do ticks.
| rickydroll wrote:
| Yes, do ticks like the Asian Longhorn tick. Nasty little
| fuckers.
| chasil wrote:
| "Recently, mosquitoes and mosquito-borne parasites have developed
| resistance to chemical treatments and antimalarial drugs."
|
| This seems similar to phage therapy, in that the treatment
| continues to evolve along with the target.
|
| The treatment in the above article is a fungus. "Despite being
| lethal to mosquitoes, the transgenic _Metarhizium_ fungus is
| harmless in humans. "
|
| https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2104592118
| littlestymaar wrote:
| Funny that you mention phage therapy as the first person to
| implement desease-based pest control for bugs was Felix
| d'Herelle, better known for having invented phage therapy a few
| years later.
|
| His biography is definitely worth reading as his life was
| entertaining to say the least.
| rcpt wrote:
| We were going to release something like this in California but
| environmental groups killed it.
|
| I've been having some success with "mosquito dunks" in buckets
| here in Los Angeles but unless the neighbors do it to we still
| get bit
| frollogaston wrote:
| Maybe if they do it in neighboring states, some of the
| mosquitos will fly over the border.
| tonyedgecombe wrote:
| Not if we build a wall, how high can mosquitoes fly?
| notfed wrote:
| Why did they kill it? Were risks identified independent of
| eliminating mosquitoes, or was it killed due to perceived
| causal effects of eliminating mosquitoes?
| ItCouldBeWorse wrote:
| Because diseases have a tendency to recombine and jump hosts
| - it could become a human plague- similar to malaria..
| Teever wrote:
| From the link provided by user mullingitover:
|
| > This initiative introduces X-ray sterilized male
| mosquitoes in target areas as part of a Sterile Insect
| Technique (SIT) pilot program
|
| It is highly unlikely that x-ray sterilized male mosquitos
| would cause a human plague similar to malaria.
| daveguy wrote:
| That was a sibling comment of the GP (sterilized
| mosquitos), the article itself is about a genetically
| engineered disease.
|
| The article has mosquitos "releasing toxic proteins in
| their semen". Seems like the sterilization is a much
| better option. "We promise it's not toxic to humans"
| didn't turn out so well for RoundUp.
| mullingitover wrote:
| LA has a project where sterile male mosquitos are released[1].
| Females only mate once, so this absolutely wrecks mosquito
| populations. It's the same strategy that keep screwworms
| contained at the Darrien Gap.
|
| [1] https://www.glamosquito.org/2024-04-12-innovative-pilot-
| prog...
| recursivedoubts wrote:
| "when wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to
| death"
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| _> "It's essentially an arms race between the mosquitoes and us,
| " says St. Leger. "Just as they keep adapting to what we create,
| we have to continuously develop new and creative ways to fight
| them,"_
|
| I just had a vision of Jeff Goldblum muttering something...
| pazimzadeh wrote:
| I worked in Raymond St. Leger's lab for a short time in college.
| I can pass along any questions you have, and will send him the
| link to this discussion.
| moffkalast wrote:
| Tell them to keep up the good work. The only good mosquito is a
| dead mosquito! I'm doing my part!
| KennyBlanken wrote:
| Except for all the living things that eat mosquitos, and
| which in turn get eaten by other things, or eat other pests
| besides mosquitos
| autoexec wrote:
| Is there any living thing that eats mosquitos and nothing
| else? There seems to be no shortage of other tiny flying
| insects in the world for critters to munch on.
| bobbylarrybobby wrote:
| "Is there any living person that eats rice and nothing
| else? There seems to be no shortage of other grains in
| the world for humans to munch on."
|
| Obviously then, eliminating rice would have catastrophic
| consequences.
| moffkalast wrote:
| They can eat something else, we can make them mosquito
| shaped dietary supplements if they want.
|
| We've driven almost a thousand species to extinction so
| far, we ought to finally do one that actually deserves it.
| littlestymaar wrote:
| Mosquitoes aren't "one specie" though, but rather several
| thousands.
|
| Also, most of their lives is spent as aquatic larvae, not
| flying pests.
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(page generated 2025-06-16 23:01 UTC)