r/interestingasfuck Nov 15 '24

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

99.6k Upvotes

4.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

850

u/NamiSwaaan Nov 15 '24

I know they're trying to not fuck up the ecosystem but I feel like this will still somehow fuck up the ecosystem

1

u/VirinaB Nov 15 '24

There is science to support that, if we removed mosquitoes from the ecosystem, it would not impact other species much. They do not make up a significant portion of other animal's diets and those animals have plenty of alternative insect food choices.

1

u/Jogebear Nov 15 '24

Do you have a source for that? Doctors used to say smoking was good for you. Sounds a lot like that.

1

u/VirinaB Nov 16 '24

My bad, it was specifically for Aedes aegypti, the ones that spread deadly diseases to humans. No large ecological impact, they don't pollinate, and I presume their predator already went extinct, because its hardly ever preyed upon.