Nah. There are bacteria that have evolved ways of turning on genes specifically when they’re exposed to tetracycline (which was originally made by other bacteria, after all) - sort of an “Oh, shit! Time to panic!” response. We’ve taken the whole system and plopped it down into other organisms for this kind of use.
Let me guess: The people who are opposed to this are the same people who don’t vaccinate their kids. Right?
Someone posts about GMO mosquitos and the Dope just happens to have a honest to God expert.
What are the odds on this? Impossible to one*?
I know it’s cliché - but this is why I love the Dope.
*Anyone but me know the reference?
Fascinating mozchron. Any work on German Wasps and Common Wasps? There are a host of exotic insects thriving around the world in environments far from their natural homes. They do lot of damage.
I’d just like to pop in to say that this is fucking amazing. 
As Smeghead said, its a system we’ve commandeered from bacteria (E. coli). Is called “Tet-off”. There is also a “Tet-on” system, where you can turn a gene on by addition of tertacycline. These are off-the-shelf systems and can be purchased from a company called genOway, and although they are originally from bacteria they work in pretty much any organism.
There are a couple of different components. On the Tet-on system, there is a protein called “rtTA” When tetracycline is bound to rtTA, it binds to a specific promoter (gene sequence that controls where and when a gene is turned on) and turns on the gene.
For Tet-off, the protein is slightly different and called tTA. tTA automatically binds to the promoter of the gene of interest and turns it on, UNLESS tetracycline is present. If tet is present, it binds to tTA and prevents it from binding to the promoter, keeping the gene turned off.
There are various tweaks we use to get these not to just turn on and/or off, but to do it in specifically the tissue, time, lifestage, and/or sex that we want.
Heh. I’ve been here since grad school.
Not that I am aware of. Hymenopternans in general are hard to transform. Honey bee was just done by some colleagues in Germany.
Thanks. I didn’t know Hymenopternans are hard to transform but that does explain my impression that the approach for control is to genetically modify a vector animal which attacks specific breeds of wasp etc. For example the Varroa mite which attacks honey bees.
If such a mite can be made virulent for wasps or pine beetles etc then we have a solution.
I can see a wonderful sea change in dealing with unwanted exotic insects - even animals such as the Australian possum which is literally killing New Zealand’s ancient forests.
The downside is that releasing GM mites or bacteria or viruses will always be an open ended experiment. We can’t be quite sure they won’t adapt and start killing local biota.
I’m interested in seeing if this argument can be developed. I don’t understand it.
Mother Jones seems to be opposed to this.
And?
Not trying to be snarky. The critics in that piece are known anti-GMO organizations (FOTE), and their criticisms are either not well founded or apply to pretty much any control strategy.
The Cayman information issue was blown out of proportion. There are people in this thread that live in the Caymans, and as they can tell you, the releases worked adn the country is in general supportive of more trials.
I’m 1000% behind the idea.
I’ve had malaria and I was cured quickly, and I know the disease first mentioned (chikungunya) that is the whole point of the project is much more agonizing and is untreatable. Opposition to going after the disease’s mosquito vector is in my mind willingly condoning the great suffering of many millions and who knows how many deaths.
I totally agree with the earlier post where it was suggeested that opponents to this effort may well include the same people who refuse to vaccinate their children.
Definitely in support of bringing them back to Cayman! Oh yeah! Start right by my house! Release them in the stagnant water just down the road. Absolutely. Right over here. Right in my back yard. (OK, it’s really my front yard. )
Our Mosquito Research Control Unit does proper research that has proven the efficacy of the Oxitec releases.
In opposition we have GeneWatch UK headed by Dr Helen Wallace - a physicist and mathematician. I’ll take evidence* provided by the entomologists and geneticists over Dr Wallace’s speculations about what might happen but has not been proven.
See: Harris, A. F., Nimmo, D., McKemey, A. R., Kelly, N., Scaife, S., Beech, C., Petrie, W., and Alphey, L. (2011) Field performation of engineered male mosquitoes. Nature Biotechnology