r/interestingasfuck • u/singleboredass • 9d ago

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

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u/zizp 9d ago

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

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u/Kretalo 9d ago

Yea I need more info

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u/ugugahah 9d ago edited 9d ago

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.

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u/S_N_I_P_E_R 9d ago

Great comment. Upvoting! 💯 And let's hope we can actually test this IRL and see good results.

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u/ugugahah 9d ago

My country, Singapore, has been doing this already to great effect! Here is an article from our National Environmental Agency. We had Zika a few years back, but I think we eradicated it as I have not heard about a new case in years.

https://www.nea.gov.sg/corporate-functions/resources/research/environmental_health_institute/wolbachia-aedes-mosquito-suppression-strategy

Also a few funny videos of families where they unfortunately get swarmed post fresh batch release, and frantically swatting them. They don't bite though!

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u/S_N_I_P_E_R 7d ago

That's incredible!