Mosquitoes bred with suicide genes to combat disease - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Orkel;44666482]If the offspring dies before they reach sexual maturity then how is this gene supposed to spread?[/QUOTE] No offspring means no next generation of the species. The parents aren't immortal, you know. If they all die off without having any children capable of reproduction, they basically become extinct. [editline]28th April 2014[/editline] Biology sure is a fun college major.

[QUOTE=Yumyumbublegum;44667763]that sounds super radical[/QUOTE] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser]It totally is[/url]

Sure release GM'd bugs but not GM'd crops because one can't possibly go wrong while the other hasn't even been shown to have any problems at all

[QUOTE=Orkel;44666482]If the offspring dies before they reach sexual maturity then how is this gene supposed to spread?[/QUOTE] recessive gene, so most will be asymptomatic carriers

[QUOTE=Orkel;44666482]If the offspring dies before they reach sexual maturity then how is this gene supposed to spread?[/QUOTE] the males are only carriers, meaning the female bitey ones will die off while the males hopefully mate with a few more females before they die off

[QUOTE=V12US;44666622]The gene is recessive. This means that the gene can only express itself when it receives the gene from both parents. HH = Healthy mosquito HG / GH = Mosquito with the flawed gene it received from one parent. The recessive gene doesn't express itself GG = mosquito with the flawed gene received from both parents. Mosquito = ded If a mosquito with the flawed gene mates with a healthy mosquito, that means: HH = 100% chance to give healthy gene HG = 50% chance to give healthy gene, 50% chance to give faulty gene that doesn't express itself 50% of the offspring are healthy, and 50% become offspring that carry the gene but are not otherwise affected If two mosquitos with the flawed gene mate with eachother, it means: HG = 50% chance to give healthy gene, 50% chance to give faulty gene that doesn't express itself HG = 50% chance to give healthy gene, 50% chance to give faulty gene that doesn't express itself HH = 25% chance (a quarter of the offspring are healthy) HG = 25% chance GH = 25% chance (50% of the offspring become carriers) GG = 25% chance (a quarter of the offspring is ded) At least, I think that's how it works. It's just basic biology.[/QUOTE] That will only kill a bloodline of Mosquitoes, and even then not all of them.

[QUOTE=Orkel;44666482]If the offspring dies before they reach sexual maturity then how is this gene supposed to spread?[/QUOTE] It isn't. They already do this with fruit flies. You just release them every year and it mitigates the problem.

[QUOTE=shingda;44666444]I might be horribly wrong, but couldn't this be dangerous in the sense of affecting the food chain and whatnot? Just curious[/QUOTE] Its been proven that mosquitoes have no purpose what so ever in terms of food chain etc. They are a pretty safe thing to wipe out. [editline]28th April 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Rocâ„¢;44666436]Why not do that with mosquitoes before? Those fuckers are even more useless than wasps, unless you find hearing BZZZZZ at night and getting your blood sucked a good thing. At least wasps kill other stuff and don't bite you if you leave them alone.[/QUOTE] They have been working on it for years, its not exactly an easy thing to genetically modify an entire species to kill itself. [editline]28th April 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=squids_eye;44666518]They breed them in a lab and then keep releasing them into the wild.[/QUOTE] More importantly, (if this is the same thing I heard about a while ago) they can turn the gene on and off really easily. So as you say they can breed them endlessly and just turn the gene on as they release them. Its crazy shit.

[QUOTE=BreenIsALie;44667864][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser"]It totally is[/URL][/QUOTE] I especially like the photonic fence [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM6E3f2lT14[/media] shoots down mosquitos like some auto-turret

[QUOTE=DeEz;44669130]I especially like the photonic fence [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM6E3f2lT14[/media] shoots down mosquitos like some auto-turret[/QUOTE] Personally, i like the fact that it can be made with cheap consumer stuff from Ebay. The main drawback is having a constant power supply

[QUOTE=lapsus_;44666699]As someone who lives next to a river, I hope this gets out of hand and kills off each and every mosquito on planet earth.[/QUOTE] mosquitoes deserve only the most painful of death

Mad (beneficial) science is awesome.

MOSQUITODIE

Aren't mosquitos food for frogs?

[QUOTE=shingda;44666444]I might be horribly wrong, but couldn't this be dangerous in the sense of affecting the food chain and whatnot? Just curious[/QUOTE] Hell no, this can't possibly have any unforeseen consequences Unless of course it does, in which case in retrospect it was a terrible idea

[QUOTE=JoonazL;44674590]Aren't mosquitos food for frogs?[/QUOTE] And bats, and many other creatures.

[QUOTE=FreakyMe;44674693]And bats, and many other creatures.[/QUOTE] So wouldn't this lead to those animals hunting actually useful insects and possibly screwing something over?

[QUOTE=JoonazL;44674728]So wouldn't this lead to those animals hunting actually useful insects and possibly screwing something over?[/QUOTE] Possibly - you cut out a link in the bottom of the food chain and the strain has to be felt somewhere else.

[QUOTE=BreenIsALie;44667864][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser]It totally is[/url][/QUOTE] I hope mosquitoes have an integer spin or else we won't be able to make lasers out of them!

I love the fact that the Photonic Fence seems almost exactly like the Lightwalls from Dishonored, only scaled down for insects. Sci-Fi, saving Mankind, one Bug at a time!

I love how like all of humanity is just banding together in the common goal of eradicating [i]the fuck[/i] out of one particular species Its really entertaining to see what awesome shit we can come up with when it becomes some sort of competition to see who can kill the most mosquitoes as quick as possible

Hunting at peace. Thats all i want.

2014. The year humanity struck back.

[QUOTE=Bazsil;44710051]I love how like all of humanity is just banding together in the common goal of eradicating [i]the fuck[/i] out of one particular species Its really entertaining to see what awesome shit we can come up with when it becomes some sort of competition to see who can kill the most mosquitoes as quick as possible[/QUOTE] Well, it is human nature to seek improvement when competition rears its head. As tragic and bad as WW2 was, it is undeniable that it advanced humanity in technological terms by ~HUGE~ leaps and bounds, due to the magnitude of the conflict and people wanting the best, most effective, cutting-edge tech possible to give themselves the advantage. In an incredibly short period of time we went from the relatively slow plod of industrialization and technological innovation to Jet Engines, accurate Rifles and advanced Gunnery, Mechanical Engineering on a grande scale for tanks and warships, intelligent weaponry in and of itself and even the dawn of the nuclear age. Competition demands innovation.

I thought the point of mosquitos was to curb the global population.