Horror as Google plans to release 64m bacteria-infected mosquitoes | World | News

Google has sparked backlash over plans to release millions of bacteria-infected mosquitoes in two US states. The tech company lodged a proposal seeking federal approval to release 32million of the modified insects in both California and Florida annually as part of a major biological experiment this week.

Google’s parent company Alphabet backed the two-year programme, which seeks to slash populations of disease-carrying mosquitoes by deploying “good bugs”. It would involve the release of 64million male mosquitoes carrying the naturally-occurring bacterium Wolbachia each year.

When the infected male insects mate with females in the wild, the females will lay eggs that fail to hatch, gradually reducing mosquito populations.

But the plans provoked criticism online, including from Tennessee Republican Representative Tim Burchett, who questioned Google’s involvement and referenced several examples of humans causing ecological disruption by introducing non-native animal and plant species.

He wrote on X: “Have we not learned our lesson with Kudzu, Sparrows, Black Birds [and] Asian Carp? Should I go on? Don’t mess with the balance of nature.”

Another social media user added: “I want everyone to stop and ask what interest Google has in releasing mosquitoes. They’re a tech company. Not an environmental group. Not a non-profit. Not a government. A tech company.”

A third said: “This is a terrible idea. Mosquitoes may be annoying and dangerous, but f***ing with ecosystems like this will have extreme unforeseen consequences.”

The proposals were been put forward by Google’s life sciences division Verily, and are primarily targeted at mosquitoes carrying dangerous diseases including Zika virus, yellow fever and chikungunya.

The released mosquitoes would be male, meaning they wouldn’t bite humans as only the female species do so to obtain the protein and iron from blood to develop their eggs.

While the plans would mark the largest release of modified mosquitoes ever attempted, it has been practiced at a smaller scale before as part of Verily’s Debug Project.

Infected insects were released in US states including Florida, Texas and California in 2021 in a move also aimed at cutting disease-carrying populations.

Verily’s Debug team maintains that around 40% of the global population is at risk from mosquito-spread diseases.

The Express has contacted Verily for comment.