Posted on 09/07/2016 3:12:10 PM PDT by Maceman
What if you could get rid of the mosquitoes that carry Zika virus? All of them. An entire species.
Would it be right to do?
What if the gene-editing process known as “gene drives” could modify a species of mice on an island so that only male offspring are produced, effectively setting in motion an irreversible extinction and protecting a species of bird?
What if a tool already existed, dubbed the CRISPR-CAS9, that would simply give “technicians the ability to intervene in evolution, to engineer the fate of an entire species, to dramatically modify ecosystems, and to unleash large-scale environmental changes?”
These are the questions being debated now at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature conference in Hawaii.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
They’ve already done this in the 50s or 60s, or earlier I dunno. With the silk worms, they imported tons of silk worms and spread em around and instead of all this precious silk they ate forests. So they engineered some pheremone so the males wouldn’t mate with the females, and they died off. I guess it wasn’t genetic engineering, but similar result.
It’s a frightening concept.
I can see some lefty gene-engineering the extinction of the human species for “the good of the planet.” I have actually heard liberals say that humanity’s extinction would be a good thing.
We have reached a level of technology where wealthy individuals could become literal Bond villains, where terrorists really could destroy a city of poison an entire population.
I recall a conversation with a floppy-gay recent retiree from the State Department on Iran. He said, “Well, why can’t Iran have the bomb? Russia had it for as long as we did and nothing happened.” The level of ignorance displayed by the left is boundless.
Mosquitos are the deadliest animals to man, responsible for millions of deaths a year through diseases they carry.
We should wipe them out if we can, as long as we take care not to create a super-bug, literally.
An Iran-Saudi nuclear war would help contain Islamic Jihad - but it would be bad for world trade, so no, don’t want it.
I saw this story in Smithsonian Magazine a few months ago. There is indeed a debate in the scientific community; we can make whole species of mosquitoes extinct, but do we really want to do that?
Of the thousands of species of mosquitoes, only a few dozen actually carry dangerous parasites. That’s a nice rationalization.
But as for the question, I could not help but notice that “science” had the same debate with itself 70 some years ago, when they started splitting atoms in an explosive chain reaction.
It makes sense, but how many other species rely on mosquitoes as a part or a majority of their diet.
Atomic energy has been a boon to mankind. Even the destructive power used on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It could be argued those bombs caused LESS death than what would have been caused by a lengthy invasion into Japan.
But no. I don’t think it would be a good idea to eradicate mosquitoes. They are a huge part of the food chain, and have been around since the dinosaurs.
But what about cross species "infection" ? Can you imagine if some genius caused the extinction of plankton or soil bacteria?
No question about atomic/nuclear energy, and the use of the bombs in 1945. But the concerns of the scientists at the time were not without merit. What is notable is that they were amateurs in a game of international power.
As for the mosquitoes, I think the scientist/ethicists have valid concerns. The argument is that the DNA sequencing can be targeted to eliminate only the most virulent carrying species, while not killing off all mosquitoes. The counterpoint is whether that will really be the case, and are there unintended consequences?
I see it both ways. Mosquitoes kill more people than any other animals, including feral yutes on the southside of Chicago. But to deliberately make a whole species extinct is a very powerful leap for mankind indeed, and should not be done lightly.
I hear you. The unintended consequence has been a constant during modern history.
Imagine a world with no liberals/statists/socialists and ask this question
Mosquitos are the deadliest animals to man, responsible for millions of deaths a year through diseases they carry.
We should wipe them out if we can, as long as we take care not to create a super-bug, literally.
We have DDT already. Very effective...
Related to thread -
Guaranteed Iranian apocalyptic Shia cult would Love to bring about an extinction level biological plaque event, ala Twelve Monkeys / The Stand in order to bring their Mahdi messiah.
CRISPR gene-editing does NOT require a biotech PHD genetic engineering expertise.
Biohackers are currently gene editing many organisms without any restriction or oversight.
Security services concerned amateur ‘biohackers’ could create biological weapons, academic says | The Independent
Security services concerned amateur ‘biohackers’ could create biological weapons, academic says
The tools to edit the genes of lifeforms are now cheap and freely available on the internet
Ian Johnston at the British Science Festival, Swansea
Tuesday 6 September 2016
If you could engineer extinction, then Democrats would enthusiastically vote for it. No joke, the Clintons gave nuclear targeting technology to the enemy. Just keep the EBT food cards coming.
Kill all the mosquitoes and ticks, I’ll take my chances....
I say don’t tamper with thing you don’t fully understand as there may be unintended and unanticipated consequences. Just sterilizing the bee population could result in the death of mankind due to non-pollination of a 1/3 of our food sources . Leve well enough alone. Scientists need to stop trying to play God because it could get us killed.
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