Super Mozzies - Genetic Engineering

[farnaby]

Jeffrey Sachs rates malaria as one of the major root causes of poor countries' inability to escape poverty. If this is projected to reduce incidence of the disease, with the potential of thus reducing poverty, sounds like the risks are worth taking.

[Henry Joy]

What if malaria has some other important effect that we are unaware of?

Reminds me of Douglas Adams' tale about the removal of telephone sanitisers....

[The OD]

Whilst I dont in principle have any opposition to genetic engineering, I think its way to soon to start tinkering with this sort of thing. The biosphere is incredibly complex and its all too easy to mess things up badly.

I applaud the sentiment, but have grave reservations about it nonetheless.

Here's on they tried earlier in an attempt to wipe out a pest- and created an even bigger one!

http://www.canetoadbattle.com/

Thats the problem, who knows what effects this could have? What if the malaria mutated itself and we were left with a deadlier strain?

As stated, I have no issue with genetic tinkering, just think its a little early in the day to be trying such things when we really arent sure of the outcome.

[david]

Jeffrey Sachs rates malaria as one of the major root causes of poor countries' inability to escape poverty. If this is projected to reduce incidence of the disease, with the potential of thus reducing poverty, sounds like the risks are worth taking.

I'd rather the CAP and all its trimmings were removed than tinkering with genetic engineering.

Whatever, curing/eliminating malaria/poverty: can the world support yet more people, the people who would have otherwise died but could then reproduce?

A valid point made in this thread is that malaria will possibly mutate in order to survive. You can 'vaccinate' as much as you want but the strongest, least desirable strains will be left to reproduce: the boll weevil's acquired immunity to DDT comes to mind.

[Catalpa]

Here's an interesting article on invasive species...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... 26,00.html

[david]

Here's an interesting article on invasive species...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... 26,00.html

That is a cracking good article.

This is the great modern economic irony. Advocates of free markets argue against checks and balances to counter the power of big business, but in doing so ultimately destroy the possibility of markets that could meaningfully be called free, or, rather, "open". They resist anti-monopoly regulation in the name of providing consumer choice, and in the process they ultimately destroy it.