[ExI] crispr question

[spike]

From: spike [mailto:spike66 at att.net] 



 

 

>…Perhaps [mosquitoes] perform some unknown beneficial function (it better be a really good one to convince me to keep the needlenose bastards.)  …That would be a hell of a breakthrough: breed mosquitoes that don’t bite humans but bite rats…spike

 

 

Further random thought: this notion perhaps isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds.  Do follow my line of reasoning please:

 

Step 1: The mosquito’s proboscis must penetrate the skin to get to the blood.  

 

Step 2: we know that the skin thickness of a mammal is very roughly proportional to it linear dimension, for completely understandable reasons.  An elephant has skin perhaps ten times thicker than that of a rat.

 

Step 3: Mosquitoes are already at a size which makes it impossible for it to penetrate the skin of a larger mammal such as an elephant, but has no trouble at all with humans (dammit.)

 

Step 4: It is theoretically possible to push a species through breeding (a toy poodle is a highly-bred wolf.)

 

Step 5: If we can use CRISPR or some tech like it, we could couple smaller (or less rigid) proboscis mosquitoes with more sexually attractive (to other mosquitoes) traits, causing the smaller-proboscis genes to spread throughout the population.

 

Step 6: If successful, perhaps we could create mosquitoes which cannot bite elephants, rhinos, hippos, humans, the larger beasts, but can and do successfully penetrate the thinner skin on the smaller, shorter-haired mammals, such as rats, squirrels, moles, perhaps birds (not sure on the whole feathers thing), mice and so on.

 

If that line of reasoning is compelling, then what we are looking for is a gene already within the mosquito population which results in a longer but smaller diameter proboscis, in order to get past fur but unable to penetrate the thick tough hide of a human.  It sure seems like that gene should be in there somewhere.  We find it, CRISPR link it to whatever mosquitoes find sexy, breed it up, turn it loose.  Eventually we have mosquitoes that still bite, but don’t bite humans.

 

spike

 

 

 

 

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