Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to be Released in the US for the First Time

Oh thats just great. Im sure they will turn into super zombie mosquitos next.

Originally posted by metalshredmetal
something similar has happened before

true story:

last may by band was on tour and we went through florida in the middle of spring/aspiring summer. we went through an area that had a HUGE mosquito problem, and just driving through produced a thick layer of mosquito carcasses all over our windshield, license plate, and the back of our side mirrors.

this was the most mosquitoes i've ever seen in my life, and we were just barreling through them in our big green van..

eventually when we stayed at a friend's house we asked them what they were all about, he said that in the 70s? the university of florida tried to make a genetically engineered mosquito that was designed to "eat' other mosquitoes in order to quell the population. turns out, the new mosquitoes didn't really end up eating old mosquitoes at all...and the new mosquitoes just reproduced ALL the time.

once we heard this we noticed that almost all the mosquitoes we saw down there were "attached" at the butt, just screwing their lives away before they were smashed by a windshield.

tens of thousands, ill try to find a picture of our van after we drove through this zone of horror. we also heard that the locals learned to spread crisco all over their front bumper so that the bugs slide right off, hah.

also, I was born in Orlando in 1987, and I had scarlet fever as a baby, I wonder if these are linked?

The insect being discussed are *love bugs*
and the whole engineered by some lab
is a myth..

Folklore

Urban legend holds that lovebugs are synthetic—the result of a University of Florida genetics experiment gone wrong.[3]

Much speculation about the lovebug still thrives. This is partly because the immature stage of this insect is an unseen factor, where it lives and feeds in the thatch of grasses for most of the year. As a result, most scientists are not as concerned with the details of this insect's life cycle, biology, and other facets of its existence as they are with more serious pests. While various fungi are known or suspected of being natural controls for this species,[2] time and funding do not allow for more study, except as a side interest.

Research of L. L. Buschman showed that migration explained the introduction of the lovebug into Florida and other southeastern states, contrary to the urban myth that the University of Florida created them by manipulating DNA to control mosquito populations.[3]

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by ugie1028


I remember the Love Bugs that were introduced to Florida.
They are a real problem for some of us. And I don't know of any creature that eats them except cars.

It took mother nature billions of years to perfect the lowley mosquito, we think we can do better in a fraction of the time... That is a dangerous game this firm is playing here. There is no way to predict what will happen when they release these into the enviornment. Will they carry west nile? Could west nile mutate into something worse if transmited by one of these little abominations?

It will be easy to release these, but will be damn near impossible to get rid of them once released. Anyone remember the horror movie "mosquitos"?

Originally posted by UberL33t
I guess it wasn't as easy to GM the dragon flies (mosquito's natural predator) to produce twice or triple the amount of offspring? Dragon flies are pretty harmless to humans...and they come in pretty colors too.

Great idea!!! Dragon flies are my favourite, would much rather see a swarm of dragon flies than a swarm of mosquito's.

reply to post by theRhenn


The kind of duck you were referring to is called a Muscovy Duck. We have them here in Florida as well. Very friendly ducks compared to Mallards and other species, but ugly as can be!

reply to post by PLUMBER1


Very good point. It also crossed my mind too. Great way to distribute "something" By TPTB to thin the herd...

reply to post by sicksonezer0


Thank you, you made my day!

The Muscovy Ducks have always been the kind leaders of our nearby farm pond population. I find them to be quite beautiful in spirit and in shape. They grow on you after some time spent getting to know one another. I'll admit they are an acquired taste, visually. I would also vouche for their right to...exist, if indeed they would become an uninteded causalty of this war, gene genocide on mosquitoes.

As for the mosquitoes...What? We have created a new species of mosquitoe to kill an existing species of mosquitoe? My, I do hope those folks who have been busy as bees working away on this new development have spent a great deal of time hashing out the pros and cons of introducing this new....species malignant lifeform.

I plan on following this thread as there have been some interesting questions raised already.

Our world has been positively brimming with "developments" across the forums and it's a relief to come on here sometimes and see that yes...there are folks discussing, where we are heading. Intended or otherwise.

Peace

reply to post by sicksonezer0


Oh man, I wish i was still able to insert this pic in the OP. but im also glad its the first post on a page.

Maybe I'll get bit by a mutated mosquito and turn into Mosquitoman...errrr...I really hope not.

Seriously, a lot of species depend on mosquitoes, therefore if you kill off most of the population, you run the risk of killing off other species. I read where someone said killing of the bat population was good. That's like saying killing off frogs is a good thing. With a diminished population of these two species, the insect population rises.

On the other hand, a specie of any kind can and will mutate at anytime. That being said, this experiment could fall through the crack. It only takes a few to not carry the gene and eventually we could have a real mess on our hands.

I live in MS and I perceive these GM mosquitoes will eventually migrate towards us. Good luck to you guys in FL, heres hoping they decide not to release them. I fear they've already done it and this is the first we've heard about it.

For all you duck and bird hunters out there .
Think twice before to decide to eat them .

Originally posted by sicksonezer0
Oh thats just great. Im sure they will turn into super zombie mosquitos next.

That's funny!

I can see it now - all the mosquito predators are gonna become blood-thirsty giants after chomping on these newly manipulated delicacies...

**Giant blood-sucking canaries, beaking at the human jugular - all because they have a new DNA-instilled flavor for blood**
**2-ton, human-flesh-eating catfish, capsizing grandpa and little Billy on their early Saturday morning fishing trip**
**Jumping spiders the size of a 1970 Ford Pinto having a field day on the Black Angus cattle farms of Friedens, PA**
**Salivating pet goldfish wearing their once-condominium-sized fishbowls on their heads as if they were astronaut helmets - only to burst out and attack Sparkles, my overfed and lazy Calico cat**

Ugh! This will only lead to a disaster!

Just watch the movie "Splice". The unintended consequences can be great. If the newly modified mosquitos have a problem reproducing....all I can say is remember "CHildren of Men"?

Originally posted by the_philth

Originally posted by sicksonezer0
Oh thats just great. Im sure they will turn into super zombie mosquitos next.

That's funny!

I can see it now - all the mosquito predators are gonna become blood-thirsty giants after chomping on these newly manipulated delicacies...

**Giant blood-sucking canaries, beaking at the human jugular - all because they have a new DNA-instilled flavor for blood**
**2-ton, human-flesh-eating catfish, capsizing grandpa and little Billy on their early Saturday morning fishing trip**
**Jumping spiders the size of a 1970 Ford Pinto having a field day on the Black Angus cattle farms of Friedens, PA**
**Salivating pet goldfish wearing their once-condominium-sized fishbowls on their heads as if they were astronaut helmets - only to burst out and attack Sparkles, my overfed and lazy Calico cat**

Ugh! This will only lead to a disaster!

hahaha So that was you writing all those scripts for the crazy sci fi movies about giant bugs and snakes invading human territories.
On a serious note, we may not know what is really being unleashed.

reply to post by Wildmanimal


how ironic that due to the environmental concerns of chemical pesticides, they just come up with a genetically modifed pest to do the job. Yep sounds like an environmentalist.
Still nature sometimes takes care of the mistakes of man (without a global tax) , as in this oil eating microbe

www.scientificamerican.com...

Originally posted by sicksonezer0
Oh thats just great. Im sure they will turn into super zombie mosquitos next.

edit on 28-12-2011 by sicksonezer0 because: (no reason given)

I hope to never encounter a Mosquito that could pick me up like a human can pick up a paper. The wing flapping enough would drive me crazy. Then there is all the little hair that are on their arms, last but not least I hate them period so >_

Here is a pretty cool video regarding how Oxitec harvest the mosquitoes and releases them. They claim they are only releasing the male mosquitoes which cannot bite or infect humans. Their sole purpose is to hunt the female mosquitoes and mate with them. The Males are sterile and will interupt the next cycle of eggs.

It looks like maybe Oxitec is trying to fight dengue in india, with GBIT. This link has the story

Wonder why Florida gets stuck with the testing? Why not test it in India. It seems as if "the reward" will be used there, then "the risk" should be theirs.

reply to post by ThirdEyeofHorus


I think modifying an organisms genetic structure to control its population has its chances of success as well as unintended consequences. Look at the GMO crops; great idea in the beginning, we produced more... however, these crops are now like weeds to other farmers growing a different type of crop... and also the pollen from these plants also find their way to non GMO crops. there are endless examples on how this idea is slowly backfiring...

Everything has its pro's and cons.... the pros are short lived, while the cons are there to stay for a long while until natures produces the balance again.

If these mosquitoes were to mate and the gene mutates... what effects would it have on the environment? What would happen to animals that depends on these bugs for food... what could possibly happen to them?

there is a host of unknowns when it comes to manipulating nature.