02-08-2016, 06:27 PM
"To recap: The spike of microcephaly happened in 2015, 4 years after the GMO sterile male mosquitoes were released."
I would add that the GM mosquitoes were released hundreds of kilometers from the outbreak of zica, which makes HOTPE's post so amusing as it really hit the nail on the head. If there was any connection between those mosquitoes, microcephaly and the zica virus outbreak, there would be a trail of cases from those sites to the current outbreak which would could be traced over those four years. The only way to avoid that would have bionic mosquitoes that can fly 300km in one go (but take four years to do it).
The Guardian article referenced a scientific article detailing the results of using GM mosquitoes to kill off Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the carriers of dengue and zika. The success rate was extremely high, much higher than any other method, yet as soon as GMOs get mentioned, the conspiracy theorists wet their pants.
http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/articl...td.0003864
"[...]This study spanned over a year and reduced the local Ae. aegypti population by 95% (95% CI: 92.2%-97.5%) based on adult trap data and 81% (95% CI: 74.9-85.2%) based on ovitrap indices compared to the adjacent no-release control area. The mating competitiveness of the released males (0.031; 95% CI: 0.025-0.036) was similar to that estimated in the Cayman trials (0.059; 95% CI: 0.011 – 0.210), indicating that environmental and target-strain differences had little impact on the mating success of the OX513A males. We conclude that sustained release of OX513A males may be an effective and widely useful method for suppression of the key dengue vector Ae. aegypti. The observed level of suppression would likely be sufficient to prevent dengue epidemics in the locality tested and other areas with similar or lower transmission."
I would add that the GM mosquitoes were released hundreds of kilometers from the outbreak of zica, which makes HOTPE's post so amusing as it really hit the nail on the head. If there was any connection between those mosquitoes, microcephaly and the zica virus outbreak, there would be a trail of cases from those sites to the current outbreak which would could be traced over those four years. The only way to avoid that would have bionic mosquitoes that can fly 300km in one go (but take four years to do it).
The Guardian article referenced a scientific article detailing the results of using GM mosquitoes to kill off Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the carriers of dengue and zika. The success rate was extremely high, much higher than any other method, yet as soon as GMOs get mentioned, the conspiracy theorists wet their pants.
http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/articl...td.0003864
"[...]This study spanned over a year and reduced the local Ae. aegypti population by 95% (95% CI: 92.2%-97.5%) based on adult trap data and 81% (95% CI: 74.9-85.2%) based on ovitrap indices compared to the adjacent no-release control area. The mating competitiveness of the released males (0.031; 95% CI: 0.025-0.036) was similar to that estimated in the Cayman trials (0.059; 95% CI: 0.011 – 0.210), indicating that environmental and target-strain differences had little impact on the mating success of the OX513A males. We conclude that sustained release of OX513A males may be an effective and widely useful method for suppression of the key dengue vector Ae. aegypti. The observed level of suppression would likely be sufficient to prevent dengue epidemics in the locality tested and other areas with similar or lower transmission."