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+--- Thread: Transgenic Mosquitoes Transfer Genes into a Natural Population... (/showthread.php?tid=232292)
Transgenic Mosquitoes Transfer Genes into a Natural Population... - Sarcany - 09-15-2019
You know those mosquitoes that were genetically engineered to be infertile so that the population of disease-carrying mosquitoes would drop? The mosquitoes that were only supposed to last a generation and then die with no lasting effect other than the drop in population?
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-49660-6?error=cookies_not_supported&code=48fafebe-d398-4cf0-afda-0d340fd9c285
We genotyped the release strain and the target Jacobina population before releases began for >21,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Genetic sampling from the target population six, 12, and 27–30 months after releases commenced provides clear evidence that portions of the transgenic strain genome have been incorporated into the target population. Evidently, rare viable hybrid offspring between the release strain and the Jacobina population are sufficiently robust to be able to reproduce in nature....
Re: Transgenic Mosquitoes Transfer Genes into a Natural Population... - gabester - 09-15-2019
Life finds a way!
I never thought this plan would work (although I hoped it would) - in the wild there's always circumstances that the lab can't account for.
More importantly how is the rare hybrid looking for reproductive capabilities? Maybe add something to the release genome that at least makes future generations generally unable to carry diseases? Eh, no doubt that too will fail and actually spawn the zombie apocalypse.
Re: Transgenic Mosquitoes Transfer Genes into a Natural Population... - bfd - 09-15-2019
The frequency of insect generations made this result highly probable. Even at one-in-a-million, it won't take long…