Наталя Хандусенко Hot News 1 June 2026, 15:49

Google plans to release 32 million mosquitoes in the US: what is the tech giant's goal?

Google wants to get federal permission to release millions of mosquitoes in California and Florida.

Mosquitoes carry a number of diseases in the United States, including St. Louis encephalitis, dengue fever, Zika virus, yellow fever, and West Nile virus, which is the most common mosquito-borne disease in the country, Dexerto reports .

Building on its Debug program, which was launched over a decade ago to develop technologies to reduce the number of mosquitoes that carry infections, Google has prepared a new project involving specially treated insects.

Over the next two years, Google plans to release 32 million male mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia, a natural bacterium that renders them infertile, in California and Florida.

When these infected males mate with wild females, the latter's eggs simply won't hatch, leading to a significant decline in mosquito populations over time.

The company also emphasized that since only female mosquitoes bite people, the appearance of such a large number of infected males will not increase the number of biting insects.

The proposal is currently under review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The agency is accepting public comments until June 5, after which it will make a final decision on whether to grant Google permission to launch the project.