Oxitec's GM lab work on the diamondback moth

[@dinaatwa9135]

great job how can i communicate with you if you please

[@orccomputers2145]

man this turns out bad in outbreaks and death seeing it already

[@kimlibera663]

This is great & Darwinian. There are some million species of insects. Many are just carnivores of each other but it is those species that affect mankind & animals that need to be eliminated. Birds & bats consume mostly seeds, berries, & nuts so they ain't gonna starve.

[@HD-17]

if in an area all wild population is finished by oxitech moths this will lead to extinction of species and an empty niche will be created. food chain will be effected . Isn't it????

[@nausved]

Diamondback moths are invasive species in almost all parts of the world. Outside of the Middle East (where they are native), they are environmentally destructive to native plants and native insects. This technology will help keep the population low in some areas for a temporary period of time but, unfortunately, it is self-limiting. That means it CANNOT destroy the local moth population; it can only make the populations smaller for a while. The engineered moths cannot drive the wild moths to extinction because they cannot produce female offspring, so they soon die out due to natural selection. The wild population will get smaller due to interbreeding with male Oxitec moths (which can't have daughters), but they will also still be breeding with wild male moths (which can have daughters), so they will never completely die out. Once the Oxitec moth population has died out due to lack of daughters, the wild population will take off again and be as bad as it ever was. Farmers will probably have to keep buying new diamondback moths from Oxitec every year, or possibly several times a year, to keep the wild diamondback moth population low. This means Oxitec makes a lot of money, and it means the diamondback moth population survives indefinitely. However, this is still better than using pesticides to try to eliminate the moth, because pesticides are far more harmful to the environment and to human/animal health, and pesticides are also less effective at keeping diamondback moths in check in the long run (because the moths evolve resistance).