http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015/01/26/fda-could-set-millions-genetically-modified-mosquitos-loose-in-florida-keys/

Interesting concept to fight certain types of pesky insects.

I definitely see the utility in GMO foods, especially when there is so much hunger in the world, but I don't know what to think about this.

1/26/2015 8:14:39 AM

It's a brilliant solution to the problem of mosquito-borne diseases, the "drawbacks" are laughable, they should do it in Key West and every malarial region of the world (once they adapt the GMO to be anopheles)

1/26/2015 10:55:23 AM

Quote :

"They patented a method of breeding Aedes aegypti with fragments of proteins from the herpes simplex virus"

OMG GETTING HERPES FROM A MOSQUITO BITE!

1/26/2015 10:57:43 AM

^ and that's the kind of shit the detractors will believe to be true without any actual evidence or knowledge of how shit works.

1/28/2015 11:43:38 PM

I don't see how this would be an issue...

1/29/2015 10:22:23 AM

That is really interesting. If they could only pull some of that shit with bed bugs, I think they whole world would warm up to the idea

In fairness, there are plenty other places that are much bigger targets than the U.S.

1/29/2015 3:16:49 PM

The risk is basically that we don't know that a GMO's genetic change will cascade to other organisms in a way that we couldn't possibly predict. I think that's a valid concern, but I don't know very much about genetic engineering. I'm sure someone has a statistical model and decided that its worth the risk.

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

1/29/2015 4:33:13 PM

Science is scary to stupid people.

1/30/2015 1:49:05 PM

Speaking as a resident of Hawaii I can confirm that.

2/2/2015 10:30:31 AM

Quote :

"Science is scary to stupid people."

Look, there are absolutely so serious and valid SCIENTIFIC concerns about GMOs and biodiversity. it isn't fake. Unfortunately, most people that say that hate GMO can't articulate why. It doesn't mean that there are not risks. There more certainly are.

2/2/2015 2:58:21 PM

Well yes, and a lot of their concerns are things like eating GM apples turning them into apples themselves or eating a banana that has some potato DNA making them grow a potato in their stomach.

2/2/2015 3:42:05 PM

or eating soy beans with transferred brazil nut proteins, triggering their nut allergy, causing them to suffocate in minutes. Seems like a legit concern IMO.

2/2/2015 4:32:28 PM

also old people used to call brazil nuts "n*gger toes" and this would give them an excuse to apply that foul language to soy beans

2/2/2015 4:51:03 PM

Quote :

"or eating soy beans with transferred brazil nut proteins, triggering their nut allergy, causing them to suffocate in minutes. Seems like a legit concern IMO. "

hopefully this is sarcasm?

Quote :

"Look, there are absolutely so serious and valid SCIENTIFIC concerns about GMOs and biodiversity. it isn't fake. Unfortunately, most people that say that hate GMO can't articulate why. It doesn't mean that there are not risks. There more certainly are. "

yes and much more serious SCIENTIFIC (look I have a shift key too) concerns about human overpopulation that is already destroying biodiversity. GMO is yet another hot topic side issue to distract the idiotic masses from the real problem which is human population expansion which everyone is too scared to discuss.

[Edited on February 3, 2015 at 8:25 PM. Reason : asdf]

2/3/2015 8:19:49 PM

Then make a thread and discuss it.

What is your solution? How could worldwide population control be implemented? I know the US certainly doesn't need it, as our birth rate is in decline. Sure, Africa is going to be overpopulated, and so is India and China, but you start the population control discussion around the great Rev. Al Sharpton. He'll call you out right quick.

2/3/2015 9:06:09 PM

^^no sarcasm. That's an instance of the regulatory system (kinda) working. A soy bean variety attempted to make it through the regulatory system that produced transgenic Brazil nut proteins. Various nuts are super allerginic so regulators took a closer look, and with some further research, found there might be cause for concern. The company pulled the product soon after, although as I understand it since the mid 90s there has been some competing studies that show maybe the allergenic potential was slightly overblown (more research is needed).

The point is, there are various legit concerns of transgenic crops, beyond the mass hysteria that so many on here want to paint all people concerned with GMOs as having.

2/3/2015 10:12:27 PM

this is actually how the US has dramatically reduced mosquito-bourne illness in our borders. We have outbreaks of course but the numbers are basically as close to zero as technology can get.

entomologists have been doing this for at least a decade and it has been quite successful, clearly there is nothing better to sensationalize atm

^I can somewhat agree with the terd, new technology can always have potential unwanted side effects, but these things go through years and years and years of rigorous testing and are put through many scenarios to test all possible outcomes. The hurdles these products go through are so stringent that even perfectly safe products never make it and millions in investment are lost. We should always be careful with what we make as scientists, and the public should be aware of the stuff that is going on, I just wish the media could be more educated about the topics before making headlines that desensitize people to really important things

[Edited on February 15, 2015 at 11:31 AM. Reason : .]

2/15/2015 11:24:39 AM

I agree about the media ever producing meaningful scientific journalism is just hopeless. The hysteria they've produced in the past is unhelpful and in a lot of cases damaging.

I gotta say though that I'm also slightly disturbed by some of the opinions that are totally dismissive of any potential legit concerns related to GMOs. What's most surprising to me is the scientific illiteracy that is shared by both the crazed hysterics and the smug.

I'm not trying to scare-monger here by any means, I think GMOs on the market are safe and I consume them on a daily basis. Still there are products that were never able to gain approval for human consumption, some of those for legit reasons (some may have been unapproved for the wrong reasons, I can admit that). I think our regulatory process is so-so, at best IMO, so we need to be vigilant and continue to ask questions about the process, especially as we get into more elaborate Modification. Let's not forget about the unapproved GMO products that have made it into the food system resulting in rejected exports, fines, and lawsuits. Those were real slip-ups by the system and it was only luck that those plants were likely totally safe.

2/15/2015 5:45:58 PM

Quote :

"so we need to be vigilant and continue to ask questions about the process, especially as we get into more elaborate Modification"

I can totally agree with that

2/15/2015 6:11:24 PM

I for one can barely wait to see GMO crickets, mealworm beetles, and other insects commonly used as feed or as bait.

[Edited on March 21, 2015 at 9:40 AM. Reason : ^signed

3/21/2015 9:40:00 AM