Google\u2019s Debug programme wants to \u2018stop bad bugs with good bugs\u2019. But it\u2019s not talking about software updates \u2013 instead, it\u2019s talking about mosquitoes.<\/p>\n
Debug is on a mission to eliminate disease-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes by releasing sterile males. Now after trials in Singapore and Australia, it\u2019s applied to the US Environmental Protection Agency to release up to 64 million of the insects in Florida and California over a two-year period.<\/p>\n
Bad vs good bugs<\/p>\n
In 2024, Google fully acquired the Debug Project from tech organisation Verily, which began as a \u2018moonshot\u2019 project at Google X. Other moonshot projects (which aim to solve extremely challenging problems using ambitious solutions) at the company include its self-driving car Waymo, and the drone delivery service Wing.<\/p>\n
Debug had been in business for a decade by then. Its aim is to target invasive yellow fever mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti. As well as yellow fever, the species can transmit more than 50 other viral diseases such as Zika, dengue and chikungunya, and is considered one of the world\u2019s most dangerous insects.<\/p>\n
Native to Africa, it\u2019s thought that climate change<\/a> has helped it spread to more temperate areas<\/a> around the world \u2013 leaving around four billion people at risk of disease.<\/p>\n Debug\u2019s solution to this growing threat is to release male mosquitoes that contain a naturally-occurring bacteria found in many insects called Wolbachia. This prevents them from having offspring with wild female mosquitoes as the eggs of the female won\u2019t hatch. It\u2019s hoped that over time, the mosquito population will fall.<\/p>\n This is a method called sterile insect technique (SIT)<\/a>, and it isn\u2019t new. SIT was first used for population control of the New World screwworm<\/a> in the 1950s. Since then, it\u2019s often been used as part of an integrated pest management approach.<\/p>\n Other companies, such as Wolbito do Brasil, in the southern Brazilian state of Paran\u00e1, are also using the same technique to tackle mosquito populations and report promising results.<\/p>\n US permit<\/p>\n A notice published in the federal register<\/a> on 6th May 2026 showed that the US Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing Google\u2019s request for an experimental use permit (EUP) for the use of Wolbachia pipientis in male mosquitoes for two years in California and Florida.<\/p>\n According to the notice, up to 16 million of the mosquitoes are proposed to be released in year one in Florida, and up to 16 million released in year two. The same is proposed for California.<\/p>\n Due to the proposal\u2019s significance, the EPA invited comments on the application. The window for comments closed on 5th June 2026, and any issuance of an EUP will be announced in the Federal Register.<\/p>\n Previous global trials<\/p>\n The latest application for an EUP in the US comes after previous large-scale trials in the US, Singapore and Australia, in collaboration with universities and governments.<\/p>\n A 2018 large-scale trial occurred in Fresno County, California, with 14.4 million Wolbachia-carrying male mosquitoes being released over several years. In a post published on Debug\u2019s blog<\/a>, the company said that it had achieved up to 84% suppression of biting female mosquitoes.<\/p>\n And around three million Wolbachia-carrying male mosquitoes were released into three towns in northern Australia\u2019s Cassowary Coast in 2018.<\/p>\n