this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] discusseded 16 points 1 month ago (2 children)

This is amazing. Far better than killing them off.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

On the one hand this is creepy as hell

On the other fuck mosquitoes

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Great. First science was making the frogs gay. Now it's turning the mosquitos trans.

What's next? Lesbian amoebas? Pansexual algae? Non-binary seahorses?

Has science gone too far?

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago

DIE, DIE, DIE

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago (7 children)

Why not just eradicate them? Genuine question. I don't think they serve any purpose in nature and are just pissing off every living being.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago

They absolutely serve purpose in nature, they are a significant food source for bats and many other insects and males are pollinators.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Putting aside questions of ecosystems etc, I think the main reason is that we just can't - ironic since we seem to be extint-ing all the other animals

In South America they tried in the 50s and 60s, and more kept cropping up. They breed so quickly, if you miss an area they can just rebound. Then more can come in on ships and stuff

So you couldn't really localise it, it would have to be a huge global undertaking. And it would likely require widespread use of pesticides that are at best tricksy and at worst illegal, not to mention environmentally shitty

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago

They need blood to procreate so the method in the post does exactly what you are asking for

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Do vegans support this because it prevents mosquitoes from consuming animal flesh, or do they oppose it because it denies the mosquitoes their nature?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's nuanced because it could reduce suffering overall, but it could also disrupt ecosystems in ways we can't predict and cause even more suffering. I think the latter is more likely. People have a tendency to paint animals they don't like as insignificant to the ecosystem, but they're nearly always incorrect. Wasps, for instance, are important pollinators, even if they do sting, and mosquitoes are an important food source, even if they are deadly. Anyone who advocates for eradicating species like these is doing so through a biased lens. We are nowhere near the point, technologically or scientifically, that we'd be safe playing god with the natural world like this -- especially not with the massive damage we've already caused to the environment. Someday? Maybe. But not right now.

I do also find it horrific to forcibly alter a mosquito's body so she can't express her natural behaviors. After all -- mosquitoes may cause harm, but they lack the capacity for moral reasoning, and thus cannot be evil. Thus, they don't "deserve" any kind of torment. But my personal discomfort with this isn't a moral argument.

So, uh, that's my take on it as a vegan.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (6 children)

I'd argue that we can predict ecosystem effects. In America we annihilated malaria hot spots with DDT. Didn't seem to crash any ecosystems.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago

"Sheen, this is the 7th week in a row you've shown CRISPR modifications to the mosquito genome to curb malaria in class"

Comments are all the same as when they made mosquitos infertile, unable to spread malaria or wingless too.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

We gave a mosquito gender dysphoria?

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

Cleanse the followers of Nurgle!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

We genetically engineered mosquitoes to have gender dysmorphia - weird times.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago

They are turning the ~~frogs gay~~ mosquitoes trans!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I'd like to see any scientific study that reassures at least a little that this won't have terrible ramifications for ecosystems and the food chain.

We know too little, we are shortsighted and we have a bad record of intervening with nature.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I get the caution about unintended consequences but damnit of all the crazy planetary issues we're dealing with right now, I'd rank

"oops, got rid of West Nile and Malaria as well as annoying little red bumps from wandering too far from big cities"

As a win, the consequences of which we can probably figure out how to deal with when we come to it.

I know it doesn't work that way but I'd trade all the world's mosquitoes to keep the polar bears or pangolins or something any day.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

Mosquitoes are the bottom of the food chain. There's reason to be worried about this getting out of hand

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I had a fruit fly problem over the summer and felt guilty about the cruelty of the glue traps. But when it comes to mosquitos, roaches, and wasps, I'm Hitler. I would favor genetic alterations that expanded their capacity for suffering.

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