EPA Approves Release of Bacteria-Carrying Mosquitoes To 20 States (nature.com) 133
schwit1 writes: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the use of a common bacterium to kill wild mosquitoes that transmit viruses such as dengue, yellow fever and Zika, Nature's news team has learned. On November 3rd, the agency told biotechnology start-up MosquitoMate that it could release the bacterium Wolbachia pipientis into the environment as a tool against the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus). Lab-reared mosquitoes will deliver the bacterium to wild mosquito populations. The decision -- which the EPA has not formally announced -- allows the company, which is based in Lexington, Kentucky, to release the bacteria-infected mosquitoes in 20 U.S. states and Washington DC.
MosquitoMate will rear the Wolbachia-infected A. albopictus mosquitoes in its laboratories, and then sort males from females. Then the laboratory males, which don't bite, will be released at treatment sites. When these males mate with wild females, which do not carry the same strain of Wolbachia, the resulting fertilized eggs don't hatch because the paternal chromosomes do not form properly. The company says that over time, as more of the Wolbachia-infected males are released and breed with the wild partners, the pest population of A. albopictus mosquitoes dwindles. Other insects, including other species of mosquito, are not harmed by the practice, says Stephen Dobson, an entomologist at the University of Kentucky in Lexington and founder of MosquitoMate.
MosquitoMate will rear the Wolbachia-infected A. albopictus mosquitoes in its laboratories, and then sort males from females. Then the laboratory males, which don't bite, will be released at treatment sites. When these males mate with wild females, which do not carry the same strain of Wolbachia, the resulting fertilized eggs don't hatch because the paternal chromosomes do not form properly. The company says that over time, as more of the Wolbachia-infected males are released and breed with the wild partners, the pest population of A. albopictus mosquitoes dwindles. Other insects, including other species of mosquito, are not harmed by the practice, says Stephen Dobson, an entomologist at the University of Kentucky in Lexington and founder of MosquitoMate.
A killer gene drive? What could possibly go wrong? (Score:1, Funny)
It’s not like bacteria frequently mutate and jump species!
And this only makes the entire species go completely extinct! Like in that Star Trek Voyager episode. So fuck the moral implications.
</sarcasm>
It will be fun times, when it turns out that humanity really is too dumb to live.
[CAPTCHA: ending]
Re:Ecofacist Propaganda Agency with another great (Score:5, Funny)
For their next trick, free Ebola sandwiches!
Is that like Free Mandela tee-shirts?
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Free Palestine *
* Offer only valid with the purchase of one Palestine at full price.
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"And for the record: I agree that this plan is utterly insane."
I disagree. If that was the case, the article obviously would have the whatcouldpossiblygowrong flag.
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Not only are the targeted mosqutoes an invasive species, but your ability to read TFS is as offensively poor as your abuse of apostrophes.
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This shit is literally like 50 years old. The science is settled. Even the alarmist EPA couldn't find anything wrong with it.
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However, not all mosquito species actually carry the diseases that we'd like to prevent, and some of those species that are carriers don't inhabit northern states or aren't as prevalent on the west coast of the country.
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I agree with this. I've lived in central Africa, the upper Midwest US, and a Nordic country.
The mosquitoes in central Africa (city and rural areas) were definitely less bothersome than summer in rural areas in the other two places. On the other hand, occasionally you come down with malaria.
Re:A killer gene drive? What could possibly go wro (Score:5, Informative)
By approving to only 20 states, do they really think the mosquitoes will not cross state lines? Or jump to Mexico or Canada? What if a country like N.Korea starts designing and releasing their own organisms in a "F the world" gesture - then will it be seen as a problem?
I don't know that the concept is to have strict geographic borders. Any borders will be very fuzzy. But the highly focused control methods are not new. Bacillus thuringiensis I is also used to control Mosquitoes. And it does a great job, killing the larvae of just the mosquitoes (also fungus gnat and blackfly larvae) but that's it. In the pond in my backyard, we use it, and doesn't bother the frogs or fish one bit.
Bacillus thuringiensis K a version of the bacteria that goes after Gypsy moths. And it's approved for "organic" status.
Both completely natural, not man made and found on beaches.
And did you know that there are some species of insect that cannot reproduce without Wolbachia, the bacteria in question? It is a very common bacteria, it has the same effect in a male mosquito who picks it up randomly as in a purposely infected one.
We've learned a lot about pest control, and have gone far beyond early and clumsy efforts. While so many Slashdotters are still stuck in the 1960's Andromeda Strain world, we've been using these highly focused controls for many years. might as well rail on about vaccines.
tl;dr version. if Wolbachia is a problem, we're screwed already because it's ubiquitous. As for NK pulling some insect borne stunt, its them and everyone else. This isn't rocket surgery.
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We've learned a lot about pest control, and have gone far beyond early and clumsy efforts. While so many Slashdotters are still stuck in the 1960's Andromeda Strain world, we've been using these highly focused controls for many years. might as well rail on about vaccines.
Oh man, I thoroughly enjoyed that post. Good work!
Re:A killer gene drive? What could possibly go wro (Score:4)
They are only releasing the mosquitoes with the naturally occurring bacteria, they aren't really genetically modified. Think of it more as selective breeding aimed at controlling this aggressive mosquito.
I just got back from Japan - it wasn't nearly as bad this time but this breed is nasty. My son and I are pin cushions to them.
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Fingers Crossed (Score:1)
Our backyards is full of bloody cane toads at this time of year... I hope they get this one right ;)
I'm actually amazed that this works (Score:2)
There are so many mosquitos, how can they possibly release enough to actually make a difference in the population?
Re:I'm actually amazed that this works (Score:5, Interesting)
(a) because breeding captive mosquitoes is not very difficult (though it's not pain free: mosquitoes require a blood meal to reproduce, which often involves a person sticking his/her arm in the cage)
(b) because if the "sterile males" are released in the right time and place, they outnumber the wild males, so *most* wild females mate with a sterile male; repeated a few times this can actually wipe out the wild population
(c) but as far as I know, separating captive males and females is not so easy
Source: I used to work in a tropical medicine institute (but not directly with any mosquitoes).
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So, if there are 100 billion wild males, how many sterile ones do you need? A metric shit load?
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Your tax dollars at work, breeding mosquitoes in the lab by the shit-ton.
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Your tax dollars at work, countering mosquito born diseases after they've already infected the populace.
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I think that Zika has rare human-human (sexual) transmission. But even that doesn't obviate the validity of the approach.
Re: I'm actually amazed that this works (Score:3, Informative)
Compared to treating babies born with microcephelia over their lifetime...seems like a drop in the bucket.
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(c) but as far as I know, separating captive males and females is not so easy
They should have the male work a full-time job while giving the female stay-at-home mosquito an unlimited wine-budget and a sense of superiority. That usually does it in the species I've observed.
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Separating them via computer and robot seems like a job awaiting someone.
but... (Score:2)
Do mosquito females only mate with one male?
I ask because if mosquitoes are like cats or humans who mate with many males, they would end up with offspring even if most of the males are shooting blanks.
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(c) but as far as I know, separating captive males and females is not so easy
Source: I used to work in a tropical medicine institute (but not directly with any mosquitoes).
Don't know how it's actually done, but since only females bite, all you should have to do is coat an arm with some sticky glue and let nature follow its course.
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(a) because breeding captive mosquitoes is not very difficult (though it's not pain free: mosquitoes require a blood meal to reproduce, which often involves a person sticking his/her arm in the cage)
They don't stick an arm in. They use bladders of blood they hang in the cage.
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(a) because breeding captive mosquitoes is not very difficult (though it's not pain free: mosquitoes require a blood meal to reproduce, which often involves a person sticking his/her arm in the cage)
They don't stick an arm in. They use bladders of blood they hang in the cage.
The technical term for those blood bags is "grad student".
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(c) but as far as I know, separating captive males and females is not so easy
Since the males don't bite, it sounds like you can rig up a fresh side of pork with some automatic fly-swatters, and just kill the ones that land for lunch.
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My understanding is that they separate them at the larval stage and there is a size difference - basically pour some water through a sieve and one side has females and the other side has males. It's something like 99.9% effective.
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It's targeting a specific species of mosquito, I think part of the effectiveness is reducing that species' competitiveness with other species of mosquito that fill the same niche in the environment.
End result, you'll still get bitten - but hopefully not Dengue.
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Unless they force you to go back, too, that plan is pointless.
Mosquitos are anoying, but.... (Score:2, Insightful)
Weren't we thaught in school not to mess with the ecosystems and let nature run its course? else we might risk exterminating some species by mistake?
Re: Mosquitos are anoying, but.... (Score:1)
Mosquitoes are God's creatures. Don't fuck with them.
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Mosquitoes are God's creatures. Don't fuck with them.
The bacterium Wolbachia pipientis is also a creation of our Lord. We are only being a servant of God.
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The piece of code I just wrote is a creation of the Lord. Including the bugs which are all part of His plan.
Too late for that (Score:2, Informative)
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Re:And how on Earth.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Wait what? Did you just equate genetically modified species being released into the wild with a non-binding international treaty to curb emissions? Wtf?
For the Nth time, the Paris climate agreement is non-binding. If for whatever reason your country does not care about the global climate, you're entirely free to ignore the Paris goals, shut your eyes and keep burning all the oil and the coal you want. There are no sanctions in the treaty for countries that do not meet their goals.
The point of the Paris agreement is to try to get everyone to do what they can to slow down the rate of emissions (and hence warming) to a point where the consequences are more manageable. The point is precisely to try to make sure nations don't get fucked by massive climatic changes.
Comparing such a project, which has a well understood basis in natural science (the greenhouse effect has been well understood for over a century and is demonstrable in a lab) and is based on the voluntary co-operation of nations for the common good of everyone (just like the closing of the hole in the ozone layer, which was also achieved by an international consensus and realization that continuation of past practices would have lead to serious harm for everyone) to an experiment where a single nation starts to release genetically modified insects is just plain dumb. We know that reducing emissions is good for everyone in the mid to long term, and we know this for a fact. We don't know that releasing genetically modified mosquitoes into the wild will not have significant adverse effects.
I understand that this kind of strawman where the Paris treaty is seen as some kind of NWO tool to control what nations can do flies on facebook & al where people get their news from mainly reading headlines of blogposts, but I seriously expect people on this site to have a modicum more of insight into what the treaty actually says before going overboard with the tinfoilhat level of crazy.
Reading Comprehension Fail (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:And how on Earth.... (Score:5, Informative)
how on Earth is going the EPA and US to control that such kind of hybrids
Well, first of all, these are not "hybrids". They are just regular mosquitoes carrying a bacteria that regularly infects mosquitoes already. So, done?
doesn't invade another countries like Canada or Mexico?
What the bacteria does is make the male mosquito sterile, so that when he mates with a female in the wild, instead of producing thousands of new mosquitoes they just make thousands of eggs that don't develop. I'm pretty sure we don't have to worry about the eggs migrating to other countries. And since male mosquitoes (the only ones being infected and released) only live about ten days, the risk of them travelling across borders seems fairly small. And if they do, their tenancy as illegal aliens of other countries will be quite short-lived. And, since the treatment they receive sterilizes them, they will have no foreign-born offspring disrupting the existing mosquito populations of other countries, taking their jobs, getting on mosquito welfare, or whatever.
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Quote: "And, since the treatment they receive sterilizes them, ..."
Are you sure? I mean, are you SCIENTIFICALLY sure about that point?
Let's see some scenearios I'm sure they have taken into account (pun intended):
1) Mosquitoes infected that ain't sterile after all.
2) Interspecies newborns that might became bacteria-proof (think like horse + donkey = mule). This mosquito+bacteria + another species of mosquito from other Country might create another thing that hasn't been studies and might even create much mu
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Are you sure? I mean, are you SCIENTIFICALLY sure about that point?
From TFA: "Using lab-grown mosquitoes to kill mosquito pests has been tested extensively in Brazil in recent years. [emphasis mine]" A number of other tests -- for specifically this method, and similar ones -- are mentioned as well, so I'm going to go with "Yes" in answer to your question.
I'm not sure why you think this is being approved for widespread use (somewhat anyway. But still limited to areas with temperature and precipitation conditions to areas where it was successfully tested within the U.S.) wi
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Quote: "And, since the treatment they receive sterilizes them, ..."
Are you sure? I mean, are you SCIENTIFICALLY sure about that point?
I'm not sure, but what I am confident of is that the scientists who do this work for a living know more about it than you or I. And even if they go off half-cocked there are layers and layers of scrutiny and regulations to pull them up.
So yeah, the place to ask these questions is not here.
Finally! (Score:5, Informative)
These comments are terrible (Score:5, Insightful)
The bacteria they're using already exists in nature and already infects mosquitoes. Nothing is being released that isn't already out there. All this conjecture about genetically modified organisms, hybrids, extinction, jumping species, etc. is just knee-jerk fear-mongering by people who have no clue what they're talking about.
Re:These comments are terrible (Score:5, Funny)
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Zombie mosquitoes? Now there is a horror flick.
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"Zoombies" and "Zombeavers" are actual movies about zombie animals in a zoo and beavers, respectively... Zomsquitoes doesn't sound too far out there in comparison.
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The racist comments are terrible too... That and what you said are the reason no one with actual technical knowledge of a subject posts in Slashdot forums anymore.
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Yeah, about that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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Have we learned nothing... (Score:1)
from Jurassic Park?
Life... will find a way.
One thing is for certain (Score:5, Funny)
Except for the ones that do form. One thing is for certain: there is no stopping mutant DNA; the mosquitos will soon be here. And I for one welcome our new insect overlords. I’d like to remind them that as a trusted Slashdot moderator, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground anti-DEET research labs.
Genetics 101 Question (Score:3)
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Yes, but resistances are best seen as cycles. Many crop plants go through 10-20 year cycles due to various diseases. As plants are distributed immune to a certain disease another eventually comes along, and then disease resistance for that is prioritized. Maintaining an immunity has costs associated with it, so they don't last a long time.
Also, disease resistant ones may not be "stronger" except in this aspect, it could be linked to a weaker trait, or multiple traits, good, bad, and mostly neutral, but that
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Wouldn't this strengthen the population that carries the viruses by eliminating the weaker carries, i.e. breeding out the weak and re-enforcing the stronger ones? I'm not a biologist or geneticist
Only if they survive. For millions of already extinct species this didn't happen, so don't bet the house on 'life always finds a way' bullshit.
the uneducated masses stir in fear (Score:1)
My favorite comments thus far have been ones from people with clearly no understanding of biology or pathology. Would you wet your pants in your chair if I told you this isn't the first time a strategy like this has been employed? Not specifically with the mosquito, or any particular species thereof, but with many invasive species of plants, such as cheatgrass:
https://blog.nature.org/science/2016/09/07/attacking-invasive-cheatgrass-root-soil-microbes-biocontrol-sage/
and fish:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc
Naturally occurring (Score:2)
Dear Lord, please . . . (Score:2)
There's an easier way (Score:2)
If you want to cut down on the number of blood-sucking parasites in your area, the answer is simple: quit electing them.
the 20 states are (Score:2)
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And the dodo, T-rex, Brontosauri that roam freely....
oh wait.