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Donkeyman
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Donkeyman is offline
Melton,United Kingdom
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Posts: 9,088
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31-05-2019, 12:48 PM
1

Spiders v Mosquito's

Scientists are developing a cocktail of some kind of
fungus mixed with spider venom to kill malaria carrying
mosquitos, it seems to be very effective in large scale
trials so far!
Sounds good news for malaria ridden regions but could
be bad news for spiders?
Do they have to kill the spiders to get the venom?
How many spiders are needed to make enough to be
effective over large areas?
What are the enviromental consequences if world populations
of spiders are wiped out?
I think we need to tread carefully before we go blindly into
developing this product too quickly?

Regards Donkeyman!
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Besoeker
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Besoeker is offline
Doncaster, UK
Joined: Jun 2018
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31-05-2019, 12:54 PM
2

Re: Spiders v Mosquito's

Originally Posted by Donkeyman ->
Scientists are developing a cocktail of some kind of
fungus mixed with spider venom to kill malaria carrying
mosquitos, it seems to be very effective in large scale
trials so far!
Sounds good news for malaria ridden regions but could
be bad news for spiders?
Do they have to kill the spiders to get the venom?
How many spiders are needed to make enough to be
effective over large areas?
What are the enviromental consequences if world populations
of spiders are wiped out?
I think we need to tread carefully before we go blindly into
developing this product too quickly?

Regards Donkeyman!
Maybe they breed the spiders?
Donkeyman
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Donkeyman is offline
Melton,United Kingdom
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 9,088
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31-05-2019, 01:05 PM
3

Re: Spiders v Mosquito's

Probably what they do Besoeker,
The only argument l can think of against breeding them
is, what if 20 million poisonous spiders escaped!!!

Regards Donkeyman!
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Pyxell
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Pyxell is offline
South of England
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Posts: 2,259
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31-05-2019, 01:08 PM
4

Re: Spiders v Mosquito's

It would seem that the spiders are safe.......after googling, I found this.....


"The fungus Metarhizium pingshaense, long known to infect and kill mosquitoes, was made even deadlier to the insects by the addition of a gene that produces a spider bite toxin called Hybrid.

Researchers engineered the fungus to make Hybrid in the presence of the mosquito version of blood, called hemolymph. “We’re just bypassing the spider fangs and getting the fungus to do the same job,” says study coauthor Raymond St. Leger, an entomologist at the University of Maryland in College Park."
Donkeyman
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Donkeyman is offline
Melton,United Kingdom
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Posts: 9,088
Donkeyman is male  Donkeyman has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
31-05-2019, 01:19 PM
5

Re: Spiders v Mosquito's

Originally Posted by Pyxell ->
It would seem that the spiders are safe.......after googling, I found this.....


"The fungus Metarhizium pingshaense, long known to infect and kill mosquitoes, was made even deadlier to the insects by the addition of a gene that produces a spider bite toxin called Hybrid.

Researchers engineered the fungus to make Hybrid in the presence of the mosquito version of blood, called hemolymph. “We’re just bypassing the spider fangs and getting the fungus to do the same job,” says study coauthor Raymond St. Leger, an entomologist at the University of Maryland in College Park."
Thanks for the info Pyxel, so it seems spiders are not
involved at all?
Oh well, there goes my thread!
It seems that science does occasionally have benifits!

Regards Donkeyman!
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Pyxell
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Pyxell is offline
South of England
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Posts: 2,259
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31-05-2019, 01:23 PM
6

Re: Spiders v Mosquito's

Originally Posted by Donkeyman ->
Thanks for the info Pyxel, so it seems spiders are not
involved at all?
Oh well, there goes my thread!
It seems that science does occasionally have benifits!

Regards Donkeyman!
Well, spiders were involved to start with!

We have a lot to thank spiders for!
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AnnieS
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United Kingdom
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01-06-2019, 11:54 AM
7

Re: Spiders v Mosquito's

They were talking about this on the news yesterday and saying that this may seem a solution but could also cause a lot of problems that they have not thought of. There is a potential threat to bees for example. I think it's going to be another typical example of man trying to control nature and getting stung. Instead of meddling with nature we should be researching better ways to prevent and cure malaria because IMO this idea is nuts. I don't know what role mosquitos play in our fragile ecology but I am sure they have one. We are probably the only living creature on this planet that does not contribute to its ecology.
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Longdogs
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SW England
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01-06-2019, 12:37 PM
8

Re: Spiders v Mosquito's

It could also result in a million extra people surviving it every year, I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.
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Pyxell
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Pyxell is offline
South of England
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01-06-2019, 01:32 PM
9

Re: Spiders v Mosquito's

Originally Posted by Longdogs ->
It could also result in a million extra people surviving it every year, I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.
It is if you are one of them!
Donkeyman
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Donkeyman is offline
Melton,United Kingdom
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01-06-2019, 02:31 PM
10

Re: Spiders v Mosquito's

Originally Posted by Pyxell ->
It is if you are one of them!
Your perceptive self, Pyxel?

Regards Donkeyman!
 
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