Google filed a permit with the Environmental Protection Agency to release millions of mosquitoes in California and Florida. It is called the Debug Project, and the goal is to decimate mosquito populations by introducing “good bugs” into the environment. Google wants to release 64 million mosquitoes in the two states over two years.

The mosquitoes that will be released are infected with naturally occurring bacteria, rendering them sterile. Male mosquitoes do not bite; therefore, Google plans to release sterile males so they will mate with potentially disease-carrying females who will lay unfertilized eggs, thus decreasing the population.

Chris Grinter, an entomologist at the California Academy of Sciences, says, “It’s really a genius technique that has been used to completely eradicate or reduce numbers of serious pests and vectors.”

The sterile insect technique, or SIT, is described by the International Atomic Energy Agency as “environmentally friendly.”

The state of California already practices this technique for other pests. In 1996, the state Department of Food and Agriculture launched a SIT program to counter Medierranean fruity fly colonies in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Orange counties. It was called the Medfly Preventative Release Program. Sixty-two thousand, five hundred to 125,000 flies were released per week for $16 million a year. Since the inception of the program, the Medfly infestation has dropped 90 percent.

San Jose launched a similar operation last August to combat Medflies. The CDFA released 250,000 sterile Medflies a week over Santa Clara County for six months.

Grinter says the SIT process for mosquitoes is a little trickier. Unlike other bugs, which pose a risk only to agriculture, mosquitoes pose a risk to humans as vectors of disease. Researchers have to be extra careful not to release females that could reproduce and increase the population.

According to Google’s permit, it plans to start releasing millions of mosquitoes next year. Grinter says that in the meantime, Californians can deter mosquitoes by eliminating water sources in their yards where the insects can breed.

Grinter told SFGATE he was excited to have “tech leaders that are taking technology to have a positive impact.” He says he hopes “it’s really successful because it could be just like a sustained long-term method for eradicating really dangerous mosquito populations.”

Sources:

SFGATE: Google applies for permit to release 32 million in Calif.
DW: Why Google wants to release millions in the US

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