More plentiful than what? There are an estimated 200-400 billion birds in the world, with 10-20 billion in (for example) the US alone. Or did you mean something else?
You don't need to create such thing. First because is a bad idea. You are diverting more energy from birds to insects. You will end with less birds (new diseases, blood parasites, etc in the equation) and... ¿more mosquito than before?.
The fact is that there are a lot of extant mosquito species that do exactly that and they are here since millions of years. They did not have displaced the other mosquitoes and they didn't fix the problem with malaria.
>The researchers allowed the mosquitoes to feed on their own arms for five years because of concerns at the time Wolbachia could infect humans and domestic animals.
i could only applaud. Seriously. I'm against animal testing, and i think human species should carry the burden of what it does for its own benefit and as result it would be forced to do it responsibly.
> The bacterium Wolbachia is found in 60% of insects. It acts like a vaccine for the mosquito which carries dengue, Aedes aegypti, stopping the dengue virus multiplying in its body.
> Wolbachia also has an effect on reproduction. If a contaminated male fertilises the eggs of a female without the bacteria, these eggs do not turn into larvae.
Wait, so 60% of male mosquitos are effectively sterile?
It says that if a contaminated male fertilizes the eggs of a female without the bacteria, these eggs do not turn into larvae.
That implies that eggs of a female with the bacteria fertilized by a male that also has the bacteria can develop normally. So, assuming the 60% infection rate applies to male and female mosquitos, 60% of males cannot fertilize the eggs of 40% of females due to the bacteria, or about 25% of male/female combinations are incompatible due to this effect.
This mosquito is the same one that transmits the Yellow Fever, I hope everything goes well, they didnt mention anything about the interaction with the Yellow Fever virus. Getting the Dengue is a bad experience, you feel cold even at 40C , sometimes bleed from the eyes and nose, and feel a nervous disconfort , that I found similar to when my face and neck got hit by a large medusa jellyfish.
edit:mispelling
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[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 49.1 ms ] threadHow many birds: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/03/how-many-birds
The fact is that there are a lot of extant mosquito species that do exactly that and they are here since millions of years. They did not have displaced the other mosquitoes and they didn't fix the problem with malaria.
"Oops, something went awfully wrong"
i could only applaud. Seriously. I'm against animal testing, and i think human species should carry the burden of what it does for its own benefit and as result it would be forced to do it responsibly.
> Wolbachia also has an effect on reproduction. If a contaminated male fertilises the eggs of a female without the bacteria, these eggs do not turn into larvae.
Wait, so 60% of male mosquitos are effectively sterile?
That implies that eggs of a female with the bacteria fertilized by a male that also has the bacteria can develop normally. So, assuming the 60% infection rate applies to male and female mosquitos, 60% of males cannot fertilize the eggs of 40% of females due to the bacteria, or about 25% of male/female combinations are incompatible due to this effect.