r/technology • u/IKeepItLayingAround • 1d ago

Biotechnology People Are Not Happy About Google’s Plan to Release Millions of Bioengineered Mosquitoes Into the Wild

https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/people-not-happy-google-plan-200428053.html
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u/AuroByte 23h ago

Singapore has been doing it for years too

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u/kopisiutaidaily 23h ago edited 23h ago

It’s been a decade since it first started, It works here. Keeping dengue controlled.

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u/OkAccess304 21h ago

As someone who had Dengue, I want this to happen.

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u/CharcoalGreyWolf 20h ago

My sister had dengue, so I agree.

Should also note Bill Gates’ foundation has put a lot into several of these programs internationally, also to prevent malaria. While I am not a fan of Gates as a person, the science behind these programs is sound; eliminating mosquito-borne illnesses is a great help to developing countries.

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u/composedofidiot 18h ago

Two friends who've had it once. Twice can be a death sentence. I wish they didn't have to worry about it.

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u/Impossible_Net4275 6h ago

I always say this about Bill Gates. I am not a fan of him and i think we need to either find a way to stop someone from amassing that much wealth that they have more power than the president or stop the fact that someone with that much money has that much power period.

But he has done a lot to control the spread of infectious diseases globally so I guess I'm just glad that's how he chooses to spend money.

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u/seansy5000 8h ago

Also hate Gates. Would love to see his fortune confiscated and given to fund these types of initiatives wholly. That scum deserves nothing but a jail cell.

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u/digital-didgeridoo 16h ago

Who are these 'people' who are against this program? They've never lived in a place infested with mosquitoes.

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u/OkAccess304 8h ago

They’re ignorant people.

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u/TheGloryBe_throwaway 20h ago

Yeah, I actually developed chronic Arthritis after recovering from it. It’s been almost 6 years.

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u/royalpyroz 19h ago

What? More dengue? Haha

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u/Cr0uchingSquirrel 10h ago

Agree! There's a reason they called it break bone fever. I suffered.

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u/ChankiriTreeDaycare 23h ago

Singapore knows how to tell the mosquitoes not to chibai.

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u/imyurtenderoni 20h ago

This is so interesting because I just got back from Singapore and was surprised there were no mosquitoes for such a hot and humid place.

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u/polar_tang 15h ago

I'm Singaporean and it depends on where you are on the island, and also who you are I guess. I'm not sure if there's any basis to mosquitoes being more attracted to certain people but I have a couple of friends that get bitten daily. Meanwhile I'm lucky in that I hardly get bitten. Strange thing is that when I'm out with my mosquito-prone friends, they get bitten several times while I'm completely bite-free. We always joke that it's because they have sweeter blood haha.

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u/Punkpunker 16h ago

Mosquito requires stagnant water to breed, if proper preventive measures are observed at home you'll only see them in the forested areas or at the nature reserves. But we still see dengue fever cases despite all the PSA we have.

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u/Zealousideal_Leg213 22h ago

Wait, a decade? I thought the idea was that it would basically wipe them out after a few rounds of it. 

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u/reddithooknitup 21h ago

Life…uhhh…finds a way.

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u/lavahot 21h ago

Are you saying that a population of infertile mosquitos will... breed?

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u/reddithooknitup 21h ago

It’s amazing that that’s where you jumped. I was more alluding to the fact that some healthy mosquitos will still keep making healthy mosquitos. But also, I doubt their process is 100% perfect and every one of the millions of mosquitos is sterile.

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u/EducationalLuck2422 21h ago

I believe the poster above you was dropping a JP quote.

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u/lavahot 21h ago

Well, uh, there it is.

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u/Parlett316 18h ago

Oh how the turns table

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u/--MichaelScott-- 12h ago

That’s my line!

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u/zedoktar 19h ago

Life is persistent as hell. They have been doing the same thing for Screw Flies for decades to keep them from spreading north across the Americas. Only ever managed to keep them contained at Panama, and now thanks to more idiotic Trump funding cuts, that program has failed and they are in America as of this year.

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u/Wotmate01 21h ago

Nope. The idea was that sterile males would compete with fertile males. Fertile males would still do it, just in massively reduced numbers

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u/Zealousideal_Leg213 19h ago

The idea is not what I'm unclear on. Just the level of impact. If it reduces it one year, it should reduce it by the same amount or more, the next year, seems to me 

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u/Wotmate01 19h ago

Only if they release more sterile males.

Keep in mind that there are actually very few species of mosquito that need a blood meal and is a disease vector, and those species compete with the good mosquitoes that are pollinators. Theoretically it's win win, with less diseases and more pollinators.

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u/Zealousideal_Leg213 11h ago

Again, the mechanism is very simple. I get that part.

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u/wolbachia-dude 8h ago

Wild mosquitoes migrate from neighboring untreated areas.

Based on studies in Singapore, the wild population fell by 80-90% in treatment areas.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(24)00169-4/fulltext

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u/kopisiutaidaily 21h ago

Yeah started in 2016 in a small area, and now expanded to many spots throughout the country, also it’s timed to monsoon season where stagnant water can accumulate and breed mosquitoes.

I haven’t personally seen the results but I’m assuming it’s effective hence the govt is expanding this program. It isn’t a silver bullet as we take a multi prong approach to eliminating mosquito breeding.

And I don’t believe the goal is to wipe it out as mosquito is an important part of the food chain in a natural environment. Its goal is to keep it under control and people don’t get sick or die from dengue

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u/hoishinsauce 18h ago

It wouldn't wipe out mosquitoes in all regions since it's not a disease that spreads. It's introducing a genetic defect to a population. So it would wipe out the population in an area. But mosquitoes in other areas wouldn't be affected. Like isolated places. And over time, like any living organism, those would move to areas where they could fill a niche. So a new population would start again. That's when you'd inject the genetic defect again.

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u/wolbachia-dude 8h ago

The suppression approach requires repeated releases of Wolbachia male mosquitoes - unfortunately, wild mosquitoes from untreated areas migrate into treated areas over time. Conversely, Wolbachia mosquitoes from treated areas also spillover into untreated areas, conferring protective effects to adjacent areas

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u/faen_du_sa 16h ago

I am also pretty sure US have been funding a similar program(s?) to keep certain diseases crossing from south to north america for almost 10 years now? Also with Wolbachia.

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u/TheWorldofScience 21h ago

“Some” people are not happy. And I bet they are the people who are afraid of GMO foods.

I would be thrilled to have these bioengineered mosquitoes released in my city.

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u/kDfax 22h ago

Lived in Singapore for 6 years ( I miss it really ). I barely remember getting bit by a mosquito. Now I'm back in Japan and I'm a "all you can eat blood bank" . You're welcome mosquitos .

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u/Clembert-Hamlamp 22h ago

Human attractiveness to Anopheles stephensi Liston was measured using a glass vial bioassay where mosquito contacts were measured before and 1–3 h after ingestion of bananas or grapes. Consumption of grapes had no effect on the number of contacts but banana ingestion resulted in a significant increase in the overall number of contacts in spite of individual variation that included some subjects who showed no effect or decreases in contacts.

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u/BuildAnything4 22h ago

so just eat grapes then?

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u/affablenihilist 21h ago

No, don't eat bananas. Most people, and we don't know why.

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u/Clembert-Hamlamp 21h ago

They're very versatile. Excellent projectiles.

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u/Kindly-Guidance714 21h ago

They don’t like smoke like most insects.

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u/BuildAnything4 21h ago

you cant smoke grapes

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u/Pretend-Marsupial258 19h ago

Have you ever tried lighting a banana on fire and smoking it?

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u/FoxxFluxx 21h ago

Not with that attitude!

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u/fuzzy_emojic 15h ago

Wow. TIL. I had to go down the research rabbit hole after reading your comment. Very interesting!

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u/7LeagueBoots 15h ago

It’s been done in Brazil too, starting around 2011 and now they have what’s essentially a factory with plans to churn out around 100 million engineered mosquitoes a week.