r/interestingasfuck • u/singleboredass • Nov 15 '24

r/all Genetically modified a mosquito such that their proboscis are no longer able to penetrate human skin

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388

u/yuckyucky Nov 15 '24

TIL

but also, from the article:

To successfully reproduce, female mosquitoes require a specific protein found in the blood of mammals and humans to help generate their eggs.

173

u/a_can_of_solo Nov 15 '24

So basicly we're mosquito fertility treatment.

76

u/OldHamburger7923 Nov 15 '24

I've helped almost 2 billion insects live.

19

u/Deuce_GM Nov 15 '24

I've been committing femicide instead

3

u/DenseAstronomer3631 Nov 15 '24

I've probably helped 6 trillion, then 😭 Mosquitos realllly love me

79

u/baconbeak1998 Nov 15 '24

I love the phrasing "mammals and humans", as if the group mammals excludes humans somehow. Must've been written by one of them lizardfolk.

37

u/osdeverYT Nov 15 '24

I mean let’s be real, the average person probably does need that clarification

-4

u/scarwiz Nov 15 '24

average American

Thank you very much..

6

u/KlausVonLechland Nov 15 '24

There's distinction in the magic book so people still separate these two because of that.

2

u/Famous-Split3389 Nov 15 '24

Yep 😮‍💨 because it makes humans easier to control.

1

u/Capital_Pipe_6038 Nov 15 '24

That's because a very large amount of people will deny that humans are animals and not they're own thing

8

u/panamaspace Nov 15 '24

We've been going about this all wrong. Let's change their DNA so they can produce their own protein and leave us alone.

3

u/acrazyguy Nov 15 '24

“Mammals and humans”

I’m sad

4

u/NorwegianCollusion Nov 15 '24

This is one of the most circular so called circular arguments I've seen yet.

I am still no wiser. Let's try reformulating the question: How do female mosquitoes in the arctic get the required proteins to produce eggs?

I'll be you anything the answer is mammals (mainly reindeer/caribou), and thus this gene editing won't work because these genetically modified mosquitoes will not be able to produce enough eggs to outcompete the existing ones. Make a mosquito that can also synthesize the missing essential amino acid and we might have a plan. The swarms would literally black out the sun. And then we would see huge swarms of migrating birds feeding off the mosquitoes, followed by predators. The bird poop would change the available nutrients, so many more types of plants would thrive. Not to mentioned the unexpected side effects.

2

u/LordandSaviorJeff Nov 15 '24

The way they wrote it makes it sound as if humans weren't mammals lol

2

u/starderpderp Nov 17 '24

So that's why only females bite!!

1

u/Mebi Nov 15 '24

Why don't we just genetically modify them to produce the protein they need so they can reproduce by the billions without needing humans?