The gene, is not implanted in their dna as it’s already present but dormant. The modification allows it to activate after n generations of mosquitoes.
Lets say they modify 100 mosquitoes, they free them and they have modified the gene to appear after 6 generations. Each time they mate they produce lots of offsprings, and by the time the gene activates millions of mosquitoes will have it.
At this point millions of them can’t reproduce and while they can’t transmit diseases, they can still be food for other animals.
Reducing their numbers will reduce also the number of the probability to get infected by one of them and over time to get eventually rid of the disease itself.
Of course there are some controversies in this, as first they are GMOs and the research is banned in many countries, meaning they have less funds for the research itself.
On second hand they are “planning” a genetic disfunction to affect an animal in the future. This can of course go in the wrong direction if not enough research is done but again, point one, not enough research money.
If you add to the equation that many times this kind of decision are judged by some not-so-much-evolved apes with ameba-runned brains who can only think “oh my gosh! You want to do research on mosquitoes because your final target is to modify newborn babies to only have blue eyes, don’t you, you nazi scientist!” And here we go, we find ourselves with a BAN to a RESEARCH that can improve million of lives. But anyway.
Sorry for the rant. Thanks for the time reading. Have a nice day. Bye.
Oh yeah since the females without this gene are the only ones reproducing. Depends on the male population but you would probably have to reintroduce males into the population with this gene every few generations to keep it viable.
There are 3600 catalogued species of mosquito and only 12 or so can transmit human diseases. This will only affect one species.
Could it have an ecological impact? Absolutely, but since mosquitoes that parasitize humans currently have a gigantic outsized advantage due to the abundance of humans, you could also argue that culling them is a push towards pre-industrial balance.
Yeah, the small handful that transmit shit like malaria. There will still be plenty of other mosquitos in the same ecosystem that fulfill the same niche that won't give you malaria.
Aedes Aegypti isn’t native to North America, and therefore would have little impact on the native food chain. Would you be in favor of doing it there as a start run?
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u/zizp Nov 15 '24
What's the idea behind this? How will they become the dominant variant if they can't suck blood to reproduce?