[ExI] GM Mosquitos in FL (on purpose)

[Dylan Distasio]

The results in screw worm flies are encouraging, although their mating
habits lend themselves very well to this technique.    I'm not sure how
we'll fare with mosquitoes...

https://api.nationalgeographic.com/distribution/public/amp/animals/2019/12/north-american-screwworm-barrier

On Sun, Aug 23, 2020, 1:45 PM Stuart LaForge via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> It will be interesting to see if this scheme works as intended. I
> don't foresee any disasters, but I would not be surprised if the
> targeted mosquito species evolves defenses against this attempt at
> eradication. Even in life-forms as simple as mosquitoes, females can
> be rather finicky about who they mate with. If the genetic
> modification of the male mosquito changes any aspect of his courtship
> presentation such as the pitch of his "buzz" or his scent, the GM
> males might be rejected.
>
> As an example, there is an ability that many species of insects, fish,
> and even large reptiles like Komodo dragons have called
> parthenogenesis. Basically if a female of one of these parthenogenic
> species can't find a male suitable to mate with, they will simply
> reproduce on their own either birthing or hatching clones of
> themselves. This way perfectly good females can wait several
> generations for the right man to come along. Human women could do the
> same thing given the right technology, training, and a good OB/Gyn.
>
> Stuart LaForge
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20200823/179de587/attachment.htm>