Transgenic mosquitoes unfit

[arcticpenguin]

http://www.nature.com/nsu/030217/030217-12.html

A number of labs have been working on making mosquitoes immune to malaria. The idea is to engineer these mosquitoes and release them into the wild, where they will compete with wild malaria-carrying mosquitoes. This in itself is a rather controversial strategy.

But it seems that after many generations with a cushy lab job, the experimental mosquitoes simply cannot compete with their wild cousins who have had to face continual 'survival of the fittest'.

 

[Soapy Sam]

So all we have to do is kill all the old mosquitoes and replace them with new , kinder and gentler, "sharing" mosquitoes?

What's needed is a GM tough, sterile but sexually hyperactive mossie that screws around then kills himself in a fit of existential angst.

 

[Plutarck]

So all we have to do is kill all the old mosquitoes and replace them with new , kinder and gentler, "sharing" mosquitoes?

What's needed is a GM tough, sterile but sexually hyperactive mossie that screws around then kills himself in a fit of existential angst.

"The mosquito's a clever little bastard. You can track him for days and days until you really get to know him like a friend. He knows you're there, and you know he's there. It's a game of wits. You hate him, then you respect him, then you kill him." - Mosquito Hunting, Monty Python