DESIGNER MOSQUITOES FIGHT DISEASES according to Science
vol. 354, pp164-167, doi: 10.1126/science. 354.6309.164, 13 October 2016. In
a special feature on the fight against insect borne diseases Science
reports “Brazil plans to release billions of designer mosquitoes to stop the
spread of infectious diseases”. The mosquitoes have a gene that leads to the
accumulation of a lethal protein. The gene is named tTAV and was
inserted into mosquitoes by genetic engineering. Scientists plan to release male
mosquitoes, which don’t bite people, but will mate with wild females and pass on
the lethal gene to the next generation. Any offspring that inherit the gene
should die before they mature. Scientists are still not sure how the protein
works, but according to Al Handler, an insect geneticist at the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, “It basically causes genetic havoc, and the organism dies”. The
mosquitoes can be kept alive in laboratory conditions by being fed a chemical
that inhibits the action of the gene, which means they can be bred over many
generations. According to Science the billions of mosquitoes they have
now ready for release are “roughly the 200th generation of descendants from a
single mosquito created 14 years ago in a University of Oxford lab in the United
Kingdom, where geneticist Luke Alphey and his team inserted a new gene into
insect embryos”.
BUT
ED. COM. Notice how Science is prepared to use the words “designer” and “created” when describing manipulation of mosquitoes by scientists, but still insist on promoting a theory that claims mosquitoes got here by chance random processes involving no designer or creation. Inserting a gene into mosquito embryos certainly took a lot of intelligence and creativity, but all they did was move an existing gene from one organism into another. Furthermore, when they did it, the effect was to kill the mosquitoes by causing “genetic havoc”. Think how much more intelligence is involved in creating a functioning insect with genes that work properly. If you are wondering why God would design insects that bite people and spread diseases, note the comment that male mosquitoes don’t bite people. Mosquitoes are well designed to pierce plant veins and nectar troughs and suck up plant juices and nectar, and they do this to get energy and nutrients. Genesis tells us that all animals, including insects, were originally designed to feed from plants. However, the good world that God created has become severely corrupted, and the environment has degenerated. This means female mosquitoes are unable to get enough iron from plants to lay their eggs, so they will seek it out from any other available source. Humans, with our relatively hairless skin and blood close to the surface, are an easily accessible source. The fact that we now have to resort to causing genetic havoc in mosquitoes to prevent female mosquitoes from biting people and spreading disease is a sad reminder of how far the world has gone downhill, and how much we need our Creator and Saviour. (Ref. insects, genetics, genetic engineering) Creation Research.
ED. COM. Notice how Science is prepared to use the words “designer” and “created” when describing manipulation of mosquitoes by scientists, but still insist on promoting a theory that claims mosquitoes got here by chance random processes involving no designer or creation. Inserting a gene into mosquito embryos certainly took a lot of intelligence and creativity, but all they did was move an existing gene from one organism into another. Furthermore, when they did it, the effect was to kill the mosquitoes by causing “genetic havoc”. Think how much more intelligence is involved in creating a functioning insect with genes that work properly. If you are wondering why God would design insects that bite people and spread diseases, note the comment that male mosquitoes don’t bite people. Mosquitoes are well designed to pierce plant veins and nectar troughs and suck up plant juices and nectar, and they do this to get energy and nutrients. Genesis tells us that all animals, including insects, were originally designed to feed from plants. However, the good world that God created has become severely corrupted, and the environment has degenerated. This means female mosquitoes are unable to get enough iron from plants to lay their eggs, so they will seek it out from any other available source. Humans, with our relatively hairless skin and blood close to the surface, are an easily accessible source. The fact that we now have to resort to causing genetic havoc in mosquitoes to prevent female mosquitoes from biting people and spreading disease is a sad reminder of how far the world has gone downhill, and how much we need our Creator and Saviour. (Ref. insects, genetics, genetic engineering) Creation Research.
