Posted on 01/29/2020 7:43:27 PM PST by BenLurkin
Diamondback moths are migratory pests found in the Americas, Europe, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, but especially in areas where crops can be grown yearround.
In these parts -- where it's not too hot nor too cold -- are where diamondback moths cause the greatest problems, including billions of dollars in damages to cruciferous crops such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and canola.
They're one of the most damaging insects because of their high reproduction rate and resistance to most insecticides.
To address these problems in a sustainable, environmentally friendly way, researchers have successfully genetically engineered (GE) male diamondback moths to control the pest population of their wild counterparts, according to findings published Wednesday in the journal Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology.
The moths were engineered by Oxitec, a developer of insect biological control systems that is known for its modified mosquito releases to reduce mosquitoes that carry malaria or dengue fever.
When rearing the moths, developers incorporated what they call a self-limiting gene that makes female offspring die shortly after hatching.
Typically, tetracycline, an antibiotic used to suppress the gene, is included in the moths' diet so that female moths can be produced as well.
The GE moths also competed equally to the wild moths for female mates. However, wild female moths that mate with GE moths will not produce viable offspring -- the self-limiting gene passed to offspring prevents them from surviving, leading the authors to conclude that with ongoing releases, pests can be suppressed in a targeted, sustainable way without using insecticides.
The GE moths would eventually have no one to mate with, which means they would decline as well and disappear from the environment within a few generations, the authors said. More releases would be needed to continue to suppress wild populations.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
What could go wrong?
Genetically engineered moths have been released into the wild to wipe out pests...
The numbers of widowers in the country is gonna skyrocket.
“Genetically engineered moths have been released into the wild to wipe out pests”
Perhaps Bolivian Tree Lizards can then be released into the wild to combat the Genetically engineered moths.
Do you want Mothra?
Because that’s how you get Mothra.
With lasers? That works for sharks, but moths??
And then release genetically modified Komodo dragons to take care of the Bolivian Tree Lizards if they overpopulate. Where does this end?
They will contract the latest Chinese flu and morph into these.
lol
/archer
Oh sure, it’s all fun and games until it jumps to humans, then we die off in 6 generations.
oh just swell- now we’ll have to introduce genetically modified birds to deal with the genetically modified moths that are destroyign nature, then we’ll have to introduce genetically modified hawks to deal with hte genetically modified birds that have gone berzerk- then we’ll have to introduce genetically modified cats to catch the genetically modified hawks that are now ruining the natural order of htigns, then we’ll have to introduce genetically modified dogs to deal with the insane genetically modified cats, then we’ll have to introduce genetically modified lions to kill the mad genetically modified dogs, then we’ll have to introduce genetically modified zebra muscles to poop all over the place causing the lions to catch some kind of weird genetically modified virus to kill them off with-
the vicious round and round circles-
Moths have their place. Wiping them out just means another insect which competed with the moths will proliferate and so on and so forth.
I wonder what ‘the Butterfly Effect’ will be when this comes to fruition.
Uh oh.
This is a female FReeper, isn’t it?
:(
I uh, um...
Thank God we only virtually meet on this board or I’d be in a lot of trouble right about now!
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