Thousands of Florida residents expressed their disapproval and alarm at Google's plan to release 32 million modified mosquitoes in the state over the course of two years.
The proposal, submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States, is part of Google's Debug program and aims to release 16 million sterile male mosquitoes per year at test sites in Florida, with the goal of reducing the population of the southern house mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus), the primary transmitter of the West Nile virus.
The public comment period closed on June 5, but the EPA’s file has already accumulated over 2,700 citizen comments, many of which are in opposition to the project.
One of the most frequently quoted voices is that of Christen Adams, who wrote in the federal file: «A tech company should not be involved in this type of genetic modification and release insects to the public. What are the consequences for wildlife? For humans when we are bitten? Has it been studied for five or ten years? If so, where are the results? I am fed up with humans playing God».
On social media, several users compared the plan to the urban myth of the lovebugs, the popular belief that these insects were created in university laboratories in Florida to control mosquitoes.
"That's how Florida got the lovebugs," wrote user Gail Holt Maier.
Experts from the University of Florida have debunked this myth on multiple occasions: lovebugs are a naturally occurring species that migrated from Central America, not a laboratory experiment.
The technique proposed by Google is based on the natural bacteria Wolbachia, which infects male mosquitoes and renders them incapable of producing viable offspring when mating with wild females.
The official website of Debug describes it as follows: "Our good bugs are male mosquitoes that carry a naturally occurring bacterium called Wolbachia, which makes them incapable of breeding with wild female mosquitoes."
Eva Buckner, a professor of medical entomology at the University of Florida, assured that residents “absolutely will not” notice the additional mosquitoes, since males do not bite or transmit diseases as they do not feed on blood.
" males are only interested in mating with females. That's what they focus on," explained Buckner, according to the report from WLRN.
The technique is neither new nor experimental on a global scale. Since 2019, over 1,000 million modified mosquitoes have been released in Brazil, the Cayman Islands, Panama, and India to combat dengue, Zika, and chikungunya, with positive results documented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Debug program itself reported reductions of over 95% in female mosquito populations in Fresno, California, during its trials from 2017 to 2019.
The CDC warns, however, that the modified mosquitoes "will only work to reduce the number of the target species and not of other types of mosquitoes," and that "most communities have more than one type of mosquito."
Google's permit was still under review by the EPA. If approved, it would still require the approval of state and local authorities in Florida before the program can commence.
Related videos:
Filed under: