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SidDithers

(44,228 posts) Mon Jun 16, 2014, 05:05 PM Jun 2014

GMO mosquitoes to stop mosquitoes (and all the diseases they carry)

http://scienceblogs.com/erv/2014/06/11/gmo-mosquitoes-to-stop-mosquitoes/

Holy crap! This is so clever!!

A synthetic sex ratio distortion system for the control of the human malaria mosquito

Component #1– Anopheles gambiae, the kind of mosquito that is notorious for spreading malaria.

Component #2– I-PpoI, a protein that ‘sees’ a specific DNA sequence, and cuts it. aka, a homing endonuclease. It was originally found in slime mold. :-D

It might seem as if there is no way these two components could come together in any meaningful way.

But when you are an evil scientist, anything is possible!!

More detail at link.

Sid

7 replies

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Highlight:

GMO mosquitoes to stop mosquitoes (and all the diseases they carry) (Original Post) SidDithers Jun 2014 OP

Can they get rid of stinkbugs next? femmocrat Jun 2014 #1

other than the genetic engineering... mike_c Jun 2014 #2

Lot of chimney swifts and swallows eat mosquitotes. dixiegrrrrl Jun 2014 #3

Badly Lochloosa Jun 2014 #4

I was thinking about that also. Dragon flies, frogs, etc. jwirr Jun 2014 #5

Probably better than the DDT currently used to kill mosquitoes mathematic Jun 2014 #6

They'll get by (unlike the people who die from mosquito borne diseases.) X_Digger Jun 2014 #7

femmocrat

(28,394 posts)

1. Can they get rid of stinkbugs next?

Reply to SidDithers (Original post)

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 05:10 PM

Jun 2014

mike_c

(36,281 posts)

2. other than the genetic engineering...

Reply to SidDithers (Original post)

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 05:12 PM

Jun 2014

...this is essentially identical to the screwworm eradication program's sterile male release program back in the 1950s. Actually, now that I think about it that was just somewhat cruder genetic engineering, of the smash and crash variety. But if I recall they used gamma radiation to create sterile males that caused populations to crash quickly. The slime mold endonuclease is a really nice touch, though.