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Sat 19 May, 2018 01:20 am
I'd like to see Farmerman's opinion on this one...
We understand the nature of insect pheromones now. Would it be possible to target any or all of the creatures of Pandora's box by manufacturing giant quantities of the pheromones for the targeted creature (mosquitoes, fleas, ticks...) and spray that stuff all over creation and totally wreck their entire sex system?
@gungasnake,
I believe we already do this to a degree. There are plenty of institutions up in Canada investigating all kinds of applications for various pheromones.
I know that weve had a stink bug pheromone trap set up for almost 10 years now (ever since the stink bug problem shoed up in the early 2000's)
We dont have any orchards or any crops that are hit by em so I really have no opinion except for what I read in Nature or in Lancaster Farming paper.
@gungasnake,
This would work in theory on some insects, but the costs and quantities might be tough to bear. But CRISPR based Gene Drives are far cheaper and far more effective and already in development. The challenge with CRISPR is assessing the ethics and potential risk of “Extincting” (or Creating) entire species.
@rosborne979,
Im not fully on the bioethics train Re: CRSPR-cas9 .
Anyway, pheromones are in use many years and they work and they take relatively no time to work into a genera
Animal species which the balance of nature would never miss include all of the creatures of Pandora's box, biting flies, mosquitoes, fleas, chiggers, ticks, lice, every kind of poisonous/stinging thing on the Earth including all poisonous reptiles, the four or five species of sharks which attack humans, and likely a few other kinds of things.
@gungasnake,
Chemicals have limited applications.
Microwaves don't - Enjoy 5G.