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GMOs
Jan 29, 2016 15:14:50 GMT
Post by horseguy on Jan 29, 2016 15:14:50 GMT
We see a lot of research and genetic engineering in people and animals. It seems to be a promising trend in human cancer treatment. What is disturbing to the point of scary is that there are no real oversights on creating GMOs. One very complex concern is the current Zika virus outbreak in Brazil. This virus causes birth defects in newborn babies, and who know what else. Today it was revealed that the particular mosquito that carries the Zinka virus is a genetically modified species that cannot live in nature. This urban dwelling insect was genetically modified 10 years ago in an effort to fight another disease in South America. Now a company Oxitec, a subsidiary of the biotech firm Intrexon (XON), is working to control mosquito IN Brazil that carries Zika with its own genetically modified mosquitoes.
I always joke about starting the "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time" Hall of Fame, which I am now considering putting in Flint Michigan, and inducting George Morris as a first round inductee. This Zinka situation is far more serious. It demonstrates the self destructive nature of unchecked bio engineering, particularly by for-profit companies. The Zinka is a very threatening potentially global health hazard that appears to be the result of a "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time" action a decade ago.
Now we see a company with another patented GMO stepping up to solve the problem of the last GMO "solution" that brought us the Zinka outbreak. It does not take a genius to think maybe another GMO solution is risky. However, the biotech firm Intrexon sees an opportunity to "help" and make some money. Scary stuff, which is why after over 60 years with horses I am very slow to use new treatments and vaccines. Fort Dodge (Pfizer) is a good example in veterinary medicine of risky vaccines with their West Nile vaccine that caused stillborn, aborted, and deformed foals. Profitable products foisted on horse owners that later are found to be harmful are increasingly common. Fort Dodge is now beginning to offer DNA injectable vaccines. Do you really want your horse's DNA effected by a vaccine?
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GMOs
Jan 29, 2016 15:35:11 GMT
Post by rideanotherday on Jan 29, 2016 15:35:11 GMT
GMOs are an interesting quandary. I don't believe we have enough research yet on the effects of genetic manipulation.
Where did you get the information about the genetically modified mosquito? I'd like to read that. From what I have read so far is that it was first isolated in an African variety in 1947...which is well before most genetic modification as we now know it.
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GMOs
Jan 29, 2016 15:40:37 GMT
Post by horseguy on Jan 29, 2016 15:40:37 GMT
GMOs are an interesting quandary. I don't believe we have enough research yet on the effects of genetic manipulation. Where did you get the information about the genetically modified mosquito? I'd like to read that. From what I have read so far is that it was first isolated in an African variety in 1947...which is well before most genetic modification as we now know it. On the TV news this morning.
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GMOs
Jan 29, 2016 15:45:54 GMT
Post by rideanotherday on Jan 29, 2016 15:45:54 GMT
GMOs are an interesting quandary. I don't believe we have enough research yet on the effects of genetic manipulation. Where did you get the information about the genetically modified mosquito? I'd like to read that. From what I have read so far is that it was first isolated in an African variety in 1947...which is well before most genetic modification as we now know it. On the TV news this morning. What channel? I'm trying to track this down. I majored in Biology and took a Virology class. This is interesting stuff. I did some genetic modification when I was in college...we took genetic material that causes "glowing" and put it into plants...and then grew the plants. It was pretty cool.
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GMOs
Jan 29, 2016 15:59:05 GMT
Post by rideanotherday on Jan 29, 2016 15:59:05 GMT
Ok, so this is interesting! The modification for the mosquitoes released in Brazil operated using the presence or absence of tetracycline (an antibiotic) to control the ability of the A.aegypti mosquito to grow to maturity. Male mosquitoes with a modification were released. The modified males would mate with unaltered females and the resulting offspring would not live to maturity. Unfortunately, Brazil utilizes a LOT of antibiotics for agricultural uses and only about 25% of antibiotics given to animals are absorbed and used by the body, which means that 75% is released into the environment via waste materials, where the A. aegypti mosquitoes were exposed, which allowed them to actually make it to maturity. So rather than inhibiting the population, there was a population explosion. In this case, that makes the vector level raise.
Uncontrolled variables.
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GMOs
Jan 29, 2016 17:44:20 GMT
Post by horseguy on Jan 29, 2016 17:44:20 GMT
"Uncontrolled variables", I would say that is an understatement when it comes to messing with Mother Nature. One thing I did not understand is that these carrier mosquitos of the Zinka virus cannot survive in rural areas, just in urban areas. That seemed weird but that is what hey said. The point being rural pregnant women were less effected. And then of course, considering using another genetically modified mosquito to solve this current problem seems ill advised at best given the antibiotic situation there.
Intrexon, the company that has offered their GMO insects as a fix, is an American company based outside Washington DC. Their website says, "Forging a New Frontier in Cellular Therapeutics... Engineering Microbes for Commercial Products ... ". To me that all sounds pretty scary.
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GMOs
Jan 29, 2016 18:02:44 GMT
Post by rideanotherday on Jan 29, 2016 18:02:44 GMT
"Uncontrolled variables", I would say that is an understatement when it comes to messing with Mother Nature. One thing I did not understand is that these carrier mosquitos of the Zinka virus cannot survive in rural areas, just in urban areas. That seemed weird but that is what hey said. The point being rural pregnant women were less effected. And then of course, considering using another genetically modified mosquito to solve this current problem seems ill advised at best given the antibiotic situation there. Intrexon, the company that has offered their GMO insects as a fix, is an American company based outside Washington DC. Their website says, "Forging a New Frontier in Cellular Therapeutics... Engineering Microbes for Commercial Products ... ". To me that all sounds pretty scary. In rural areas, there are more species of mosquitoes and therefore more competition (one potential reason) or in urban areas there are more standing water areas available for breeding/growing larvae purposes (another potential reason). It seems that not all species of mosquito are vectors for the Zika virus, which is normal. Oxitec (just got bought by Intrexon) used to be a UK (Oxford) company. Interesting that Intrexon felt that Oxitec had plenty to offer last year and bought them. Scientists do lots of scary things - some things work, some things don't and some things have horrible consequences. Antibiotics and vaccines used to be scary too. Innovation doesn't come without cost, financial or otherwise. Research is hard to control, because on the edge of science, innovation begins, and how do we know how to control what we don't know?
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GMOs
Feb 4, 2016 12:20:42 GMT
Post by rideanotherday on Feb 4, 2016 12:20:42 GMT
Because this has been really interesting for me, I have continued to do research. Tetracycline was limited in use by Brazil agriculture in 2009. So, even if it managed to manifest this year, the genetics that code for unsuccessful completion of the lifecycle will still crop out in the next generation.
Also, the epicenter for the outbreak is many kilometers from where the GMO mosquitoes were released, and typically, they only move a few hundred meters during their life. It is unlikely at best for the release of these mosquitoes to be even a portion of the vector for the Zika virus.
The virus itself has pretty mild symptoms and most people don't even realize they have been infected. The global travel element has made any virus / disease much more likely to spread easily through the world. That's not the fault of GMOs. Blame airplanes...they are much more at fault for the spread of the Zika virus.
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GMOs
Feb 4, 2016 20:50:10 GMT
Post by horseguy on Feb 4, 2016 20:50:10 GMT
Interesting. There was a radio news item about this. A PhD was explaining that the mosquito that spreads the Zinka is urban by nature because it prefers very small amounts of water to breed. It likes even a bottle cap full of water or a plastic cup with a few drops in it. It does not like water as big as a puddle, much less a pond. So, it is perfect for an urban area with litter and rain. They are spraying and picking up litter in south American cities and towns.
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GMOs
Feb 15, 2016 14:27:21 GMT
Post by rideanotherday on Feb 15, 2016 14:27:21 GMT
I saw on the news that Brazil is offering that it might be a pesticide that was sprayed on crops that could be the cause of microcephaly. That's an interesting option.
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