Two of the sunniest states on each coast of the US could soon also become among the buggiest of the bunch. Google’s parent company, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG), is seeking federal approval to release up to 32 million specially treated mosquitoes across California and Florida over the next two years as part of a concerted effort to curb the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. But it sounds a lot itchier in planning than it would be in practice.
The proposal — submitted through Alphabet’s life science division, Verily, as part of its “Debug” initiative — is currently under review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Regulations.gov — the U.S. federal government site that essentially acts as an internet portal and document repository — released a notice in early May confirming the EPA’s receipt of an application from Google LLC, requesting an experimental use permit (EUP) for the “Wolbachia pipientis wAlbB,” which are contained in live adult Culex quinquefasciatus male mosquitoes.
Must Read
“The Agency has determined that the permit may be of regional and national significance,” the notice reads. “Therefore, because of the potential significance, EPA is seeking comments on this application.”
The agency is accepting public comments through Friday, June 5 before deciding whether or not to grant an experimental use permit. Here’s what you should know about it.
What’s the point of releasing millions of mosquitoes?
The Debug project targets Culex mosquitoes, which can spread diseases including West Nile Virus (WNV) and St. Louis encephalitis (SLEV). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), WNV remains the most common mosquito-borne disease in the United States. The CDC also warns there are no vaccines to prevent or medications to treat neither WNV nor SLEV.
There have been more than 8,000 human cases and over 400 deaths due to WNV reported in California alone since 2003, according to the California Department of Public Health. While SLEV is less common, California public health officials are concerned it may be spreading.
Mosquito-borne illnesses are not just a California concern. Since its initial detection, human cases of WNV have been reported in every single US state except Alaska and Hawaii, according to the Florida Department of Health. There are at least 2,000 human cases of WNV every year, but because many people never develop symptoms, that number is likely an underestimate.
Verily’s Debug project aims to “make mosquito and disease reduction efforts more successful, and to make the Sterile Insect Technique more cost effective and accessible to more places affected by mosquito-borne diseases.” Unlike traditional mosquito-control methods that rely heavily on pesticides, the Sterile Insect Technique is a biological pest-control method that involves mass-rearing target insects and sterilizing them before releasing them into the wild to mate. The Debug project is attempting to automate that process with high precision.
Verily’s approach uses a naturally occurring bacterium called Wolbachia. Male mosquitoes infected with the bacteria are bred in laboratories and then released into the wild. When they mate with wild female mosquitoes, the resulting eggs fail to hatch, gradually reducing mosquito populations over time.
Here’s the key: Only male mosquitoes would be released, and because male mosquitoes do not bite humans, researchers say the project would not increase the number of biting insects that residents encounter. Hence why it wouldn’t be as itchy as it sounds.
Read More: Taxes are going to change under Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ — 4 reasons you can’t afford to waste time
A tried-and-true example
The technology is not entirely new. Verily has spent years developing automated mosquito-breeding systems that use artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and computer vision to sort mosquitoes by sex and scale production. And previous trials involving Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes have shown promising results in reducing mosquito populations.
In 2016, CMAD and MosquitoMate piloted the first-ever US release of male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with Wolbachia in Fresno County, California. Verily collaborated with both groups in 2017 — on 25 times more mosquitoes. Verily trialed the release of 20 million mosquitoes to “collect the necessary evidence to bring [the plan] to a broader scale,” according to a blog post on the field study.
In early May, Debug also announced the expansion of its research and development (R&D) and mosquito production capabilities in Singapore, marking the establishment of the program’s first international R&D hub and its largest facility for adult mosquito production yet. The researchers found Singapore achieved 80-90% suppression of the Aedes aegypti mosquito population and more than 70% reduction in dengue incidents after just six to 12 months of releases.
The company says more than 10 million male Wolbachia mosquitoes are now released every single week in Singapore.
What could go wrong with millions more mosquitoes?
Supporters argue innovative mosquito-control strategies are becoming increasingly important as invasive species expand their range and mosquito-borne illnesses become increasingly common. But not everyone is convinced. Some environmental groups have raised concerns about large-scale insect-release programs, arguing regulators should carefully study potential ecological impacts before approving widespread deployments.
Critics have also called for greater transparency about where releases would occur and how success of such initiatives would be measured.
If approved, the experiment would release approximately 16 million mosquitoes during the first year and another 16 million during the second year. Regulators have not yet disclosed which Florida or California communities could be selected as release sites.
The bottom line
There is no publicly disclosed budget for the current Debug proposal, so any estimate is speculative for now. What we do know, however, is that Verily launched the initiative specifically because traditional methods of combating mosquito-borne diseases are considered massively labor-intensive and too expensive to scale. Verily has spent years building automated breeding, sex-sorting and release systems to make the process simpler and more scalable.
Given that this is a multi-state pilot backed by Alphabet — and that it involves tens of millions of mosquitoes — a reasonable ballpark estimate could very well be in the millions over the lifetime of the project. But researchers beg the question: Could spending millions on mosquito suppression ultimately save millions more in healthcare costs, mosquito-control costs and disease prevention?
You May Also Like
Join 250,000+ readers and get Moneywise’s best stories and exclusive interviews first — clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.
This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: Google’s parent company wants to set loose 32 million lab-bred mosquitoes in America — and time is running out to object
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
