Google Is Releasing 20 Million Bacteria-Infected Mosquitoes in Fresno

Megalith

Megalith

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Verily, the life sciences arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet, will release about 1 million mosquitoes a week over a 20-week period in two 300-acre neighborhoods in Fresno as a means of exterminating the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is prevalent in the area. Verily’s mosquitoes, all male, are infected with a type of bacteria (Wolbachia) that makes females’ eggs unable to produce offspring.

You see, the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito is prevalent in the area. Earlier this year, a woman contracted the first confirmed case of Zika in Fresno through sexual contact with a partner who had been traveling. Now there’s the fear of the inevitable mosquito-meets-patient if we don’t do something about it. Verily’s plan, called the Debug Project, hopes to now wipe out this potential Zika-carrying mosquito population to prevent further infections.
 
Stupid question, but aren't there plenty of other species that are dependent on the likes of mosquitoes to survive? I thought that was part of the reason we didn't kill them all with flamethrowers.
 
Cyraxx said:
Stupid question, but aren't there plenty of other species that are dependent on the likes of mosquitoes to survive? I thought that was part of the reason we didn't kill them all with flamethrowers.
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I believe mosquitoes are quite possibly the only living thing beside humans that is a net determent to an ecosystem.
 
Isn't it kind of worrying that a private company can be allowed to mess with the environment and nature like this?

Don't get me wrong, the first guy that eradicates all mosquitoes from the world will get an ice cold beer and a high five from me!

But it just feels strange that it is not scientists working on behalf of government doing work like this. What responsibilities does Google have if something were to go wrong, or some unforeseen consequence occurs?
 
Stimpy88 said:
Isn't it kind of worrying that a private company can be allowed to mess with the environment and nature like this?

Don't get me wrong, the first guy that eradicates all mosquitoes from the world will get an ice cold beer and a high five from me!

But it just feels strange that it is not scientists working on behalf of government doing work like this. What responsibilities does Google have if something were to go wrong, or some unforeseen consequence occurs?
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I think you answered your own question as there is no accountability. What could go wrong? This technique could never be abused. Google and Microsoft do no evil. There is nothing to see here, move along. :whistle:
 
Stimpy88 said:
Isn't it kind of worrying that a private company can be allowed to mess with the environment and nature like this?

Don't get me wrong, the first guy that eradicates all mosquitoes from the world will get an ice cold beer and a high five from me!

But it just feels strange that it is not scientists working on behalf of government doing work like this. What responsibilities does Google have if something were to go wrong, or some unforeseen consequence occurs?
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Lots of laws cover this. From personal to property laws, not including many of the newer animal/environmental laws if some other effects came of this.

What bothers me is that government has done this and worse with HORRIBLE effects (not Mosquito related, but environmental/animal related), and nothing was done to them, at least with a private company we have SOME sort of chance of legal action against them, government, not so much.
 
bobdabilder said:
Zombie apocalypse in 3.....2.......1.....
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398cf241319b75f137f6d99d7495f958.jpg
 
Stimpy88 said:
But it just feels strange that it is not scientists working on behalf of government doing work like this.
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Our current government is far more strange, and this zika issue left to them would be treated as "fake news" and a chinese hoax.
 
lol. This won't get rid of mosquitoes. They live up to two months, or longer depending on conditions, and 20 million is probably a very small fraction of their local population. Also, I wonder what that crazy homeless guy would say if he seen one of the vans releasing a swarm of mosquitoes.
 
draksia said:
I believe mosquitoes are quite possibly the only living thing beside humans that is a net detriment to an ecosystem.
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FTFY

Here as idea... instead of introducing 20 million [insert invasive species here] into a population, why not try introducing only a single sex? Test achieved and no threat of them becoming a bigger pest. (see rabbits in Australia, cane toads in Hawai'i, etc.)
 
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Interesting especially after watching the X-Files movie again last night. So instead of bees they're using mosquitoes.
 
sleepeeg3 said:
FTFY

Here as idea... instead of introducing 20 million [insert invasive species here] into a population, why not try introducing only a single sex? Test achieved and no threat of them becoming a bigger pest. (see rabbits in Australia, cane toads in Hawai'i, etc.)
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If you read the article, you would have noted that the 20 million are all male. The point is for the males to mate with the females and make them infertile.
 
Stimpy88 said:
Isn't it kind of worrying that a private company can be allowed to mess with the environment and nature like this?

Don't get me wrong, the first guy that eradicates all mosquitoes from the world will get an ice cold beer and a high five from me!

But it just feels strange that it is not scientists working on behalf of government doing work like this. What responsibilities does Google have if something were to go wrong, or some unforeseen consequence occurs?
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Something tells me this is something that the local government is backing, I can't imagine it would be too legal for any private entity to possibly screw with a local ecology without there being any sort of ecological impact studies done.
 
xX_Jack_Carver_Xx said:
Isn't this how and where the Planet of the Ape's started?

Why not CURE Zika instead of hoping you can sterilize some mosquitoes?
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Proof of concept? Plus the fact that there are people who do not believe in western medicine (see the last Ebola outbreak, plenty of people don't believe in government's efforts to contain the disease, broke people out of those said containments and ended up having MORE people infected as a result). Killing off the carrier might be more effective than trying to cure it.
 
Cyraxx said:
Stupid question, but aren't there plenty of other species that are dependent on the likes of mosquitoes to survive? I thought that was part of the reason we didn't kill them all with flamethrowers.
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This particular species is invasive. If there was a way to get rid of them completely their niche would simply be refilled by native species or other invasive.

xX_Jack_Carver_Xx said:
Isn't this how and where the Planet of the Ape's started?

Why not CURE Zika instead of hoping you can sterilize some mosquitoes?
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There is no shortage of people trying to cure Zika, sometimes you cannot ever cure something other times it takes a while even when it goes fast it takes a long time to get something FDA approved. This is simply an alternative attempt to mitigate the problem and is likely a trial to see how effective it is. Remember anytime you try to kill or eradicate anything there is tremendous selective pressure to overcome that. We may simply see females which have some resistance to Wolbachia arise and sweep the population or maybe like many mosquito control schemes it will be something that needs constant application, in which case verily makes a constant source of money. It is however very unlikely to completely eradicate this species.

A lot of people do not realize there is a ton of stuff the DNR and other agencies do to influence nature. Dumping chemicals into streams, culling animals. etc... There is also a ton that is done privately too. Just look up on amazon beneficial insects and see that anyone is free to buy and release thousands or millions of bugs in their own backyard. We are doing this all the time. Influencing nature.

BlueFireIce said:
What bothers me is that government has done this and worse with HORRIBLE effects (not Mosquito related, but environmental/animal related), and nothing was done to them, at least with a private company we have SOME sort of chance of legal action against them, government, not so much.
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What exactly do you want done? While the government cannot be sued, they do actually have to clean up or work on the messes they created where if you do not sue a company they can simply ignore it. While the government could in theory ignore it, it is the governments own departments that monitor these things and ultimately either in the long term or the short term are going to be responsible for the decision to clean up a mess, work on solving it, or give up, and on top of that ultimately what would punisheing the government do? the money would come back out of our pockets since the government is funded by taxes we pay.
 
rudy said:
What exactly do you want done? While the government cannot be sued, they do actually have to clean up or work on the messes they created where if you do not sue a company they can simply ignore it. While the government could in theory ignore it, it is the governments own departments that monitor these things and ultimately either in the long term or the short term are going to be responsible for the decision to clean up a mess, work on solving it, or give up, and on top of that ultimately what would punisheing the government do? the money would come back out of our pockets since the government is funded by taxes we pay.
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Private party has actually a better track record of fixing their mistakes, the government, not so much, where in most cases just out right ignored or stopped messing with the area, or worse, kept doing what they were doing. As for punishment, you have the individuals, just like in a private party who made the choices, the same reason why when a LEO do something wrong and the department pays out and not the officer, that should not the be case. When persons have responsibility for the out come, they are far more careful in their choices, however, in most of these cases those people were not even fired or punished at all by the department they were in or controlled.

To act as if only the government can do this or only the government knows how to is not only wrong, but dangerous.
 
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