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https://theconversation.com/google-wants-to-release-16-million-sterile-mozzies-our-australian-tests-offer-a-valuable-lesson-286359>
"In the United States, Google’s (now Alphabet) Debug initiative has asked the
federal government for permission to release up to 32 million sterilised male
mosquitoes in California and Florida.
Male mosquitoes don’t bite or carry disease. The hope is these millions of male
mosquitoes will mate with disease-carrying females, the eggs won’t hatch, and
mosquito numbers will fall.
Unsurpringly, the US public has questions about the plan, including whether the
release is safe and will work at scale, and what happens afterwards.
Google/Alphabet’s plan is to release more than 16 million mozzies each year,
for two years.
More than a decade ago, I led a project with Google’s life sciences division,
(now known as Verily), to test a novel mosquito-control strategy in far north
Queensland.
The results showed releasing specially bred male mosquitoes can dramatically
suppress populations of the exotic, invasive mosquito species
Aedes aegypti.
This species is responsible for spreading deadly diseases such as dengue, Zika,
chikungunya and yellow fever. Given the US is seriously considering this
approach, our Australian experience offers important lessons."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
