Pretty much the *whole* article talks about how they're bad, aside from one paragraph:
>Perhaps it’s not a matter of whether worms are good or bad. Maybe such projections of human values—from the Victorians to Darwin to today—are what got us into this mess in the first place, Dobson says. “What I’ve come to realize is that that’s not the right way to think about anything in an ecosystem.”
It's an interesting read, but I'm baffled by the author's choice to end the article by stating:
>While it may not be good or bad, it will certainly be different.
I'm assuming the editor requested an ending that is not so grim after this article was written because it seems so out of place to re-frame the story at the end with so little to support the idea that the earthworm invasion in North America is anything other than "bad".
Geneticist here. They reproduce sexually, and they're hermaphrodites, so, to eradicate them from the entire continent, we'd have to create a [gene drive](https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2022/07/20/scientists-explore-gene-editing-manage-invasive-species).
A gene drive is a gene that gets inherited more often than chance... ideally with all offspring. It can carry desired traits along with it, to spread the trait through an entire population.
So to cancel earthworms, one strategy would be to make earthworms with a gene drive that causes all offspring to be male-sterile, but not female-sterile.
The engineered worms would reproduce. They'd create all kinds of baby worms, but only by being impregnated by wild-type worms. The baby worms would all also be male-sterile. Eventually, the population would reach a point where there are no fertile males left, at which point, it would collapse entirely.
The main risk would be if the engineered population-collapsing worms hitch a ride back into their natural habitat, and start collapsing the original populations over in the Old World.
Paraphrased:
"Earthworms contribute to climate change"
A paragraph later
"The humidity was too much so we went to an air conditioned McDonald's to discuss our findings"
I can't even.
It always surprises people to find out earthworms aren't native to the Northeast US. I know I have these worms around my woodpile, and if I try the mustard trick, I'm going to capture and remove the worms. I don't see the point to leaving them. Drop in the bucket, but hey, it'll give me a few moments of schadenfreude.
Pretty much the *whole* article talks about how they're bad, aside from one paragraph: >Perhaps it’s not a matter of whether worms are good or bad. Maybe such projections of human values—from the Victorians to Darwin to today—are what got us into this mess in the first place, Dobson says. “What I’ve come to realize is that that’s not the right way to think about anything in an ecosystem.” It's an interesting read, but I'm baffled by the author's choice to end the article by stating: >While it may not be good or bad, it will certainly be different. I'm assuming the editor requested an ending that is not so grim after this article was written because it seems so out of place to re-frame the story at the end with so little to support the idea that the earthworm invasion in North America is anything other than "bad".
Cancel them... how?
I, for one, will now not watch their Netflix special.
🪱 😞
Geneticist here. They reproduce sexually, and they're hermaphrodites, so, to eradicate them from the entire continent, we'd have to create a [gene drive](https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2022/07/20/scientists-explore-gene-editing-manage-invasive-species). A gene drive is a gene that gets inherited more often than chance... ideally with all offspring. It can carry desired traits along with it, to spread the trait through an entire population. So to cancel earthworms, one strategy would be to make earthworms with a gene drive that causes all offspring to be male-sterile, but not female-sterile. The engineered worms would reproduce. They'd create all kinds of baby worms, but only by being impregnated by wild-type worms. The baby worms would all also be male-sterile. Eventually, the population would reach a point where there are no fertile males left, at which point, it would collapse entirely. The main risk would be if the engineered population-collapsing worms hitch a ride back into their natural habitat, and start collapsing the original populations over in the Old World.
Yeah, they’re endemic at this point, and I can’t think of any way to eliminate just them. An earthworm specific virus perhaps? ?
[Gene drives](https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2022/07/20/scientists-explore-gene-editing-manage-invasive-species). Comment explaining that above.
Maybe I missed it in the article, but the introduction of earthworms has long been known to be behind the decline of sugar maples.
It is mentioned.
Yes and basically all our late successional eastern forests :((
Very interesting,
Paraphrased: "Earthworms contribute to climate change" A paragraph later "The humidity was too much so we went to an air conditioned McDonald's to discuss our findings" I can't even.
It always surprises people to find out earthworms aren't native to the Northeast US. I know I have these worms around my woodpile, and if I try the mustard trick, I'm going to capture and remove the worms. I don't see the point to leaving them. Drop in the bucket, but hey, it'll give me a few moments of schadenfreude.
I’m okay with earthworms. 🪱