Google is seeking permission to release 32 million mosquitoes in the US.

This measure is expected to reduce the population of the insect that acts as a vector for many dangerous and deadly diseases.

Adult mosquitoes inside a protected container at Google's lab. Photo: Bloomberg .

According to The Guardian, Google has applied to the US government for permission to release up to 32 million sterilized mosquitoes in the states of California and Florida.

This is part of Project Debug, Google's highly successful public health program. In this project, the company leverages its technological expertise to breed a "team" of sterile male mosquitoes to reduce the number of disease-carrying insects.

A federal announcement indicates that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing Google's request to release up to 16 million mosquitoes annually in Florida and California over a two-year period.

The EPA will decide whether to grant Google a trial license after the public comment period concludes on June 5th.

Mosquitoes are considered the most dangerous animals on the planet, claiming more lives than any other creature each year through the transmission of deadly diseases such as dengue fever, West Nile virus, Zika, chikungunya, and malaria.

However, male mosquitoes don't bite humans and don't carry diseases. One of the core methods Google is experimenting with is breeding male mosquitoes infected with a naturally occurring bacterium called Wolbachia. This bacterium prevents them from reproducing when they mate with female mosquitoes in the wild. When an infected male mosquito mates with a wild female mosquito, the female mosquito's eggs will not hatch.

The Debug project began exploring technology-driven solutions to combat the deadly mosquito in the mid-2000s. Google stated that other traditional mosquito control methods were not entirely effective. Even spraying pesticides could be toxic and increasingly ineffective due to mosquito resistance. Furthermore, finding and cleaning up all water sources, which are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, was also a daunting challenge.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, is no stranger to the scientific community. Verily Health, a healthcare and AI company that originated from the groundbreaking Moonshot project at Google X Labs, has been the core force behind the Debug program for many years.

Verily (formerly a subsidiary of Alphabet) specializes in using technology and data science to combat disease and other global health issues. A Verily representative shared in an email to The Guardian that, as of December 2024, Google had officially acquired Debug and removed the project from Verily's portfolio.

Source: https://znews.vn/google-xin-cap-phep-tha-32-trieu-con-muoi-tai-my-post1656463.html