![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SEC_299707708-fccc.jpg\")
\n\t\tYou probably feel a bit itchy just looking at this (Picture: Getty)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tYou probably feel a bit itchy just looking at this (Picture: Getty)<\/p>\n
Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it\u2019s 32,000,000 mosquitoes.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the vision behind a new public health project from Google in California<\/a> and Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n Google<\/a> is seeking federal approval to breed and release swarms of mosquitoes carrying an infection harmless to humans<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mosquitoes are among the deadliest animals in the world, making millions sick every year with diseases including West Nile virus<\/a>, St Louis encephalitis, dengue, Zika, chikungunya<\/a> and yellow fever.<\/p>\n To tackle this, researchers aim to render the insects sterile. <\/p>\n How would it work?<\/p>\n \t\t Only female mosquitoes spread viruses when they bite an animal infected with the virus and then bite a person. Males only nibble on plant nectar.<\/p>\n Rather than tinker with their DNA or spray streets with insecticides, the Google team want to infect them with the parasitic bacteria Wolbachia.<\/p>\n Wolbachia lives quietly in almost all kinds of insects from bees to butterflies, and doesn\u2019t harm humans.<\/p>\n In mosquitoes, Wolbachia burrows into the insect\u2019s reproductive machinery\u00a0and shields them from infections like the West Nile virus.<\/p>\n An infected female carries Wolbachia in her eggs, so her offspring are born infected \u2013 if they even hatch, as the bacteria can also make mosquito eggs non-viable.<\/p>\n This plan, called the Sterile Insect Technique, could cause the local wild mosquito population to plummet, according to Google.<\/p>\n \t\t The first year of the project, called Debug, would see up to 16million mosquitoes released in Florida.<\/p>\n The second year of the project would see another 16million let loose in California, according to a notice <\/a>from the Federal Register.<\/p>\n Google hopes to use robots<\/a> to rear the droning bugs and AI-powered visual sorting systems to separate them by sex.<\/p>\n These \u2018good bugs\u2019, as the company puts them, would then be released in the locations and quantities needed to outnumber wild mosquitoes.<\/p>\n The Debug website says<\/a>: \u2018We\u2019re\u00a0combining the Debug team\u2019s scientific and engineering\u00a0expertise\u00a0with the help of international partners to raise and release lots of good bugs and stop bad mosquitoes that can spread disease.\u2019<\/p>\n By wild mosquitoes, Google means Culex\u00a0mosquitoes, infamous for carrying West Nile virus\u00a0and St Louis encephalitis.<\/p>\n \t\t West Nile virus disease causes eye pain, skin rashes and fever and leaves people physically exhausted for months. <\/p>\n In rare cases, the mosquito-borne viral disease causes severe neurological disease, causing paralysis, meningitis<\/a> and brain damage.<\/p>\n St Louis encephalitis, meanwhile, is a potentially fatal inflammation <\/a>of the brain.<\/p>\n \u2018Mosquitoes may be small, but their global impact is anything but\u2019<\/p>\n Rentokil, a pest control company, told Metro: \u2018Mosquitoes may be small, but their global impact is anything but.<\/p>\n \u2018In today\u2019s world, where climate change, travel, and urban growth are making mosquito-borne illnesses more common, staying protected is more important than ever.\u2019<\/p>\n But Brent Nye, a Florida local, wasn\u2019t sold.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m not sure whether I would want them in my backyard because there are going to be a lot of things that go wrong,\u2019 he told\u00a010 Tampa Bay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019d rather have some other state to experiment on.\u2019<\/p>\n Debug was launched by Google\u2019s parent company, Alphabet, in 2016.<\/p>\n The Debug FAQ page<\/a>\u00a0says Google is \u2018actively working with organisations like national and local governments, community leaders and research institutes\u2019 to ensure it \u2018understands local concerns and considerations\u2019.<\/p>\n The Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing Google\u2019s Experimental Use Permit\u00a0application and is accepting public feedback until Friday.<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SEI296715931-38d1.jpg\")
\n\t\tMosquitoes are the world\u2019s deadliest animals, killing hundreds of thousands of people each year by spreading diseases (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SEI296715912-0de7.jpg\")
\n\t\tFumigation can contaminate waterways, harming the ecosystem (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SEI296716020-f8e7.jpg\")
\n\t\tGoogle hopes that the \u2018good\u2019 mosquitoes, unable to mate, will put a dent in wild populations (Picture: TANG CHHIN Sothy \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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