Google believes that the only solution to a bad mosquito is a good one. The company wants to release up to 32 million non-biting male mosquitoes in Florida and California. The company’s Debug program is seeking federal approval to go ahead.
The non-biting mosquitoes have a bacterium that makes them sterile. As they do not bite, they cannot spread disease. They can still attempt to mate. The eggs the females produce would be unfertilized and never hatch, making each generation of mosquitoes smaller.
“It’s really a genius technique that has been used to completely eradicate or reduce numbers of serious pests and vectors,” said Chris Grinter, an entomologist at the California Academy of Sciences.
West Nile has been recently found in mosquitoes in California. There haven’t been any human cases reported, but people should take precautions. Mosquitoes aren’t just irritating; they spread disease. Mosquitoes are actually the world’s deadliest animal. Every year, they kill people with chikungunya, dengue, malaria, West Nile virus and Zika.
Introducing sterile insects into troublesome populations has been done for decades. What makes Google’s technique is different in that its breeding program uses an automated system that uses AI computer vision to separate males and females and release the males where they want them.
In California itself, the idea of combating insects with sterile males is already in practice. Sterile Mediterranean fruit flies are released every week to combat the population. Since the program began in 1996, infestations of the insect have decreased by 90 percent.
But fruit flies only pose a danger to crops. As mosquitoes pose a serious disease risk to humans, researchers have to be incredibly careful that they aren’t releasing females and accidentally increasing the population.
Google’s mosquitoes have already been used successfully in Singapore. They have wiped out 80-90 percent of the normal mosquitoes, and there has been a 70 percent reduction in new dengue cases.
“When we first launched Debug in Singapore, our goal was to advance mosquito production and releases through technology and bring Debug to more communities in Asia, where 70 percent of the global dengue burden occurs,” said Linus Upson, the head of Debug. “Our success in Singapore gives us the confidence to expand.”
It’s unclear when Google might get approval to release insects or when they could start. Until then. If you live in an area where mosquitoes are a problem, you can be proactive and take matters into your own hands. Standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Empty buckets after rain, make sure pool covers are dry and that chlorine levels are maintained in swimming pools. And, of course, as a last line of defense, wear your bug spray!
