We gave a mosquito gender dysphoria?
Horrors We've Unleashed
Submitted 5 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to science_memes@mander.xyz
https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/a416e9fb-ee1a-49a4-8c03-e9e1a1e732d5.jpeg
Comments
inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world 5 months ago
xx3rawr@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
We have created tomboy mosquito. Humanity has peaked.
LordGimp@lemm.ee 5 months ago
This is what vegans want. They want to take your virile bloodsucking proboscus and replace it with a limp dick fruit licker.
BAN ALL VEGANS
(Small /s)
andshit@lemmy.world 5 months ago
LOL FUCK EM
Flyberius@hexbear.net 5 months ago
Surely this won’t have any knock on effects with the food chain…
BugleFingers@lemmy.world 5 months ago
As long as they can still get blood from other creatures too, I’m okay with it. If not, than that could have wild implications to the food chain assuming it leads to massive population degradation.
spankmonkey@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Not all species of mosquitos feed on blood, like how only some bats feed on blood. As long as we only mess with the ones that feed on blood, it is a lot more likely that species that feed on mosquitos will have time to adapt to population changes.
Even the ones that do feed on mosquitos don’t feed exclusively on mosquitoes.
pennomi@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I have a suspicion this gene would not be selected for when the mosquitos proceeded.
protist@mander.xyz 5 months ago
The entire point is to kill them. They are invasive anyway
BudgetBandit@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
This will probably work for 20 years, due to evolution they’ll just re-evolve that thing hard
thesporkeffect@lemmy.world 5 months ago
If your proboscis stays engorged for more than 4 hours, contact a geneticist
Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 5 months ago
This is as sad as watching the Terminator try to kill people with a broken gun. Alexa, play “in the arms of the angels”
Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 5 months ago
letsgo@lemm.ee 5 months ago
Yeah but those little bastards started it. People call what’s happening in Gaza a genocide but that’s nothing compared with the mozzie kill count.
thawed_caveman@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I can’t believe i’m saying this, but… I think mosquitos don’t deserve this. There’s basically no life form that deserves our cruelty more than mosquitoes, but this is too cruel.
Sparky@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 months ago
Horrible and unethical idea: We modify the mosquito to strongly prefer the blood of some specific animal species. Said species will then be raised in captivity only for it to be sacrificed to the mosquitos. This way they get to procreate and spread the modified gene to new generations, and keep them alive for the ecosystem to feed on.
grubberfly@mander.xyz 5 months ago
Mosquitoes are the new Gods.
Nunar@lemmy.world 5 months ago
It’s already happened, we’re the sacrifice…
bluewing@lemm.ee 5 months ago
It’s a nice idea. But I wonder what the long term ramifications might be. What ripple effects might happen that we can’t see today that end up being problems in the future.
Human history is littered with such problems.
meliaesc@lemmy.world 5 months ago
There have been extensive studies done on the topic already, the planet does not need mosquitos.
Klear@lemmy.world 5 months ago
While some species may benefit from the absence of mosquitoes, others could face ecological disruptions due to changes in food webs.
However, eliminating mosquitoes entirely could also have unforeseen consequences, highlighting the importance of careful consideration and scientific research.
Other people have asked the same question you have, Niko, and scientists think that removing every single mosquito from the world wouldn’t have a bad overall effect on the environment. But none of us are sure what will happen to small ecosystems and whether these would be better off without mosquitoes.
The science is not really settled yet.
bluewing@lemm.ee 5 months ago
Yes I know. And maybe those studies are fully correct. I certainly have no way to cross check them. So you and I must take them at face value.
But even science will tell you that you should have at least some skepticism of such studies. Because it always seems like we miss some tiny important detail that only reveals it’s self later as we refine our knowledge on a subject.
ghost_of_faso2@lemmygrad.ml 5 months ago
SynopsisTantilize@lemm.ee 5 months ago
“sir, there’s been a complication…it seems the mosquitoes with our gene are dying off in water ways and directly polluting the waters…humans may never be erect again.”
explodicle@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
In all seriousness… that would solve a lot of problems, and humanity would persist with (upgraded) reciprocal IVF. It would be kinda sad to see mankind disappear though.
SynopsisTantilize@lemm.ee 5 months ago
Well penis pump+ring keep it up long enough I’m sure
Swallowtail@beehaw.org 5 months ago
I’m having a hard time actually finding a source for this. Just a few poorly written articles that basically cite this video as a source. Something this potentially impactful seems like it would make the rounds more, so I’m very skeptical.
fossilesque@mander.xyz 5 months ago
Arfman@aussie.zone 5 months ago
I saw this posted on Twitter and the community notes said the person’s skin was too thick and it’s a normal mosquito.
Fleur_@lemm.ee 5 months ago
Who knew this whole time I was team mossie
umbrella@lemmy.ml 5 months ago
lol its soon gonna be us. and you bet they will be selling it as a great thing at first.
daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 months ago
Why making them flacid instead of just killing them?
Most species are invasive and not part of the natursl ecosystem of most places anyway.
TheOakTree@lemm.ee 5 months ago
The idea is to introduce this genetic expression into wild mosquito populations. That way, the inevitable act of mosquito reproduction lowers the next generation’s population size.
sweetpotato@lemmy.ml 5 months ago
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.
Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
It’s a pretty ineffective strategy, but I’m just going off this one photo.
If it’s genetic, and the females can’t get a blood meal, then they won’t lay any eggs to pass on those genetics and just die.
Then the ones without that gene will lay all their eggs and the next generation will be unchanged and they have to spend all that money again to do whatever they did which had no effect.
general_kitten@sopuli.xyz 5 months ago
Knowing a bit about crispr my understanding is that crispr is the technology that can be used to circumvent that scenario by making the effects kind of like an genetic time bomb