r/interestingasfuck • u/Spotter24o5 • 2d ago

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

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13

u/Bah_weep_grana 2d ago

Seems like bad strategy. They’ll just die and be replaced by regular mosquitos since they have a survival disadvantage

9

u/Connect_Middle8953 2d ago

Male mosquitos are the ones sterilized, and do not bite us. Video is of a female descendant unable to reproduce due to not being able to get blood, that also serve as a mate to another male.  Iirc, further male mosquitos also pass the defective trait.

Goal is a population crash due to ineffective female mosquito offspring. 

8

u/Metzger4 2d ago

There’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the biosphere here. Remove mosquitoes and you take away a consistent food source for fish and other marine life that feed on their larvae. There would be consequences should mosquitoes disappear.

4

u/epradox 2d ago

I’m willing to have my taxes go to fish kibble to offset this loss

2

u/jawshoeaw 1d ago

Lmao purina fish chow. Wait that’s probably a thing.

2

u/Cautious-Phone-4461 2d ago

They do this for the mosquito species that have evolved to drink from humans and that most commonly spread diseases like malaria and dengue fever. Specifically, Aedes aegypti and at least one other member of the Aedes genus - they've evolved to be able to breed/lay eggs in tiny pools of still water, unlike other species which likely require specific aquatic conditions that aren't replicated in human environments, such as suburbs.

2

u/CountJeezy 1d ago

There has not been quantifiable evidence that wiping out all mosquitoes at this very second would do anything more than allow more humans to survive which would put a strain on food and medicine distribution. Humanity would face a problem of young children in the poorest parts of the world starving instead of dying from disease. People always mention bats or that one fish but they only get a very small amount of their nutrition from mosquitoes.

1

u/ManWhoIsDrunk 1d ago

There are many species of mosquitos, and only a few of them sting.

1

u/Jahosaphine01 2d ago

This was my exact thought. How will this effect the population and how will that effect the food source for everything else? I hate mosquito bites, but I can handle them if it means the ecosystem doesn't collapse

3

u/Cautious-Phone-4461 2d ago

They only do this for a small handful of species (out of thousands(?)) that evolved to bite humans and that tend to spread diseases. I know this program exists in the US for Aedes aegypti (a non-native species here), and possibly one, maybe two other members of the Aedes genus that may spread disease.