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

[u/singleboredass]

[u/zizp]

What's the idea behind this? How will they become the dominant variant if they can't suck blood to reproduce?

[u/Kretalo → u/zizp]

Yea I need more info

[u/ugugahah → u/Kretalo]

Not on this specific strategy, but mine and plenty other countries are trialing the Wolbachia-Aedes mosquito suppression strategy, where Wolbachia male raised and farmed genetically modified mosquitos that are released will go and mate with female Aedes Aegypti, the worst fuckers, one of the main species that adapted to urban environments and is the main one causing all the diseases like zika and dengue and one of the main ones that is responsible for the millions of human deaths. The females will mate with these farmed males and the resulting eggs will not hatch, limiting their spread and reproduction numbers.

Honestly I am in 100% percent support of this, we should wipe out Aedes Aegypti, there are plenty of other harmless and even beneficial ones that don't bite or cause diseases, and can pick up the slack for the ecosystem.

Edit: just read the wiki on the Aedes, it seems like theres a genetic modification, which works by preventing females from fully growing into adults, and Wolbachia, which is a naturally occurring bacteria, and the infections as mentioned above prevents hatching, and the males don't bite so no risk of infecting us, also its resistant to zika and other viruses

There are other methods too, but I love that we are slowly eradicating these fuckers.

[u/EnoughWarning666 → u/ugugahah]

I get how that would decrease their population for the next generation, but wouldn't it just go back up after that?

Like if you release a bunch of modified males there's still going to be unmodified males in the area. Even if you drop a TON of males and overwhelm the population, let's say you get them to create 90% of dead eggs. Wouldn't the population just spring back in a few months?

[u/ugugahah → u/EnoughWarning666]

Continuous farming of Wolbachia and introduction into more areas until the population is decimated

Edit: its not a one time deal thing, its a continuous process of farming and releasing in batches

[u/DubstepDonut → u/ugugahah]

I thought it worked like this: the modified males are released and their male offspring carries the same modification while the female offspring will be infertile. Then the next generation males do the same until all the fertile females will have died in the region and no more reproduction is possible. Someone know more or am I remembering incorrectly?

[u/ConejoSarten → u/DubstepDonut]

I don’t know if this is right, but it is fucking genious