What could possibly go wrong?
Seriously there needs to be public oversight on this research. It has a non zero chance of significantly damaging the biosphere.
Seriously there needs to be public oversight on this research. It has a non zero chance of significantly damaging the biosphere.
But sterilizing the females will inevitably lead to genocide of an entire range of pollinators that could have devastating impact in parts of the World that depend upon them more than we appreciate or understand today and we won't realise until it is too late.
Humanity's plans to eliminate specific animal populations through introduction of other species, disease, or similar means have always backfired.
I am extremely wary of genetic engineering and think it should probably be illegal and all research on the subject destroyed (because of the threat it poses to humanity), but I will admit to some ambivalence when it comes to eradicating an invasive species that had sickened and killed millions of people.
Life, uh, finds a way. While it was an invasive species, it's now part of the respective ecosystems. Setting up a bunch of houses in the middle of a grassland is invasive, but you may not make life better by trying to burn it down during the dry season.
It’s insanely complicated, and you can’t think in terms of benign or not. All animals are benign, they’re just animal filling out their niche in nature.