Author Topic: Brazil plans to zap mosquitoes with radiation to halt spread of Zika virus  (Read 405 times)

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Offline flowers

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/zika/12169491/Brazil-plans-to-zap-mosquitoes-with-radiation-to-halt-spread-of-Zika-virus.html

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Brazil is planning to fight the Zika virus by zapping millions of male mosquitoes with gamma rays to sterilise them and stop the spread of the virus linked to thousands of birth defects.

Called an irradiator, the device has been used to control fruit flies on the Portuguese island of Madeira. The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday it will pay to ship the device to Juazeiro, in the northeastern state of Bahia, as soon as the Brazilian government issues an import permit.

"It's a birth control method, the equivalent of family planning for humans," said Kostas Bourtzis, a molecular biologist with the IAEA's insect pest control laboratory.


Offline Sanguine

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Re: Brazil plans to zap mosquitoes with radiation to halt spread of Zika virus
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2016, 10:50:44 pm »
It may even BE family planning for humans.

Offline flowers

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Re: Brazil plans to zap mosquitoes with radiation to halt spread of Zika virus
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2016, 10:57:29 pm »
It may even BE family planning for humans.
I noticed that in the article.


Wingnut

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Re: Brazil plans to zap mosquitoes with radiation to halt spread of Zika virus
« Reply #3 on: February 23, 2016, 11:23:51 pm »
All those 50's B-movies about radiated ginormous insects might play out!   Cool!

Offline flowers

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Re: Brazil plans to zap mosquitoes with radiation to halt spread of Zika virus
« Reply #4 on: February 24, 2016, 12:08:23 am »
All those 50's B-movies about radiated ginormous insects might play out!   Cool!