r/conspiracy: Google's sister company to release 20 million bacteria-laden mosquitos in California

Google's sister company to release 20 million bacteria-laden mosquitos in California

80 2017-07-29 by elasto

When a female mosquito mates with a sterile male, no baby mosquitoes are produced. But people have some concerns.

The male mosquitoes are bred by a robot and infected with Wolbachia, a bacterium that makes male mosquitoes sterile to any female that doesn’t have a Wolbachia infection herself.

But then what if we end up with most mosquitoes in the area being infected with Wolbachia? Then we have the same problem with mosquitoes breeding. But what happens when humans are infected with Wolbachia?

From Wikipedia:

These bacteria can infect many different types of organs, but are most notable for the infections of the testes and ovaries of their hosts.

Feminization results in infected males that develop as females or infertile pseudofemales.

Parthenogenesis is reproduction of infected females without males. Some scientists have suggested that parthenogenesis may always be attributable to the effects of Wolbachia.[10] An example of a parthenogenic species is the Trichogramma wasp,[11] which has evolved to procreate without males with the help of Wolbachia.

Wolbachia has been linked to viral resistance in Drosophila melanogaster, Drosophila simulans, and mosquito species. Flies infected with the bacteria are more resistant to RNA viruses such as Drosophila C virus, norovirus, flock house virus, cricket paralysis virus, chikungunya virus, and West Nile virus.

Thus a fake argument could be made by authorities that these mosquitoes were released to prevent West Nile Virus, which is also found in Michigan.

24 comments

1 scaredshtlessintx 2017-07-29

Mosquitos are excellent vectors for a planned plague.

1 Grizmoblust 2017-07-29

Black death 2.0

1 SlipperySkeet 2017-07-29

Their argument is it's no big deal because they're using only male mosquitos and males don't bite. But... how exactly do you make sure that all 20 million are males?

1 lavendula13 2017-07-29

You check their tiny bottoms for an aperture or, conversely, a miniscule pair of testes. Riiight...

1 pingveno 2017-07-29

There are a few papers floating around, but it's unclear which techniques are being used. I haven't read through them, but it sounds like there are differences at the larval stage.

1 old_saggers_r_sexy 2017-07-29

Easy, there's only two genders, two scoops, and with that, two terms.

As such, boys have penises, and girls have vaginas.

Problem solved. :)

1 borrax 2017-07-29

But where is your evidence that Wolbachia infects humans?

1 ShillyMadison 2017-07-29

Heres the bit relevant to humans in the wiki article

Outside of insects, Wolbachia infects a variety of isopod species, spiders, mites, and many species of filarial nematodes (a type of parasitic worm), including those causing onchocerciasis (river blindness) and elephantiasis in humans, as well as heartworms in dogs. Not only are these disease-causing filarial worms infected with Wolbachia, but Wolbachia also seems to play an inordinate role in these diseases.

It goes on to say Wolbachia plays a role in a lot of these insect-transmitted diseases. Its symbiotic for some of the vectors, but also makes them sterile. It also inhibits some diseases, oddly enough this includes the West Nile virus.

Another study tested the effect of Wolbachia on the replication of West Nile virus (WNV), but in cell line Aag2 derived from A. aegypti cells, suggesting that despite the existence of an enhancement of viral genomic RNA replication in the cell line Wolbachia infected, the production of secreted virus was significantly inhibited. Also, the antiviral effect in intrathoracically infected mosquitoes depends on the strain of Wolbachia, and the replication of the virus in orally fed mosquitoes was completely inhibited in wMelPop strain of Wolbachia

Paradoxically it seems that it increases the viral RNA production in the cells of the mosquito, but it actually inhibits it in the cells which would secrete it (to humans).

Very strange virus and judging by the wikipedia article, we don't know all that much about it. Certainly not enough to be releasing 20 million mosquitos with it?

1 lordfartsquad 2017-07-29

Dude that says it effects worms that cause blindness/elephantiasis in humans, not that it infects humans.

1 ShillyMadison 2017-07-29

I'm aware. I said it's the bit relevant to humans.

1 lordfartsquad 2017-07-29

Well yeah but it was in reply to a comment asking for proof that it infects humans, and based on that context clue most would assume you're talking about human infections. It's not that we can't read, your comment was very unclear.

1 borrax 2017-07-29

Wolbachia bacteria already naturally infects billions of insects globally.

But the statement about increasing viral RNA production while inhibiting actual virus production is interesting. I've been working with a heavily modified version of that RNA. It can replicate itself inside a cell, but can't make a complete virus, so we add it to cells and produce various proteins in the lab. But getting an RNA that replicates well enough to survive without killing the host cell is hard. Maybe there's something we can learn from wolbachia to increase viral RNA synthesis.

1 angry_cucumber 2017-07-29

you are assuming that the researchers that actually know about the virus put everything on wikipedia.

They might know large amounts about the bacteria.

1 nyx_on 2017-07-29

Feminization

1 martini-meow 2017-07-29