Last October, we announced the Debug Project, an initiative at Verily to reduce the devastating global health impact that disease-carrying mosquitoes inflict on people around the world. Today, I’m happy to announce the launch of Debug Fresno, our first field study in the U.S. to test a potential mosquito control method using sterile insect technique in collaboration with MosquitoMate and Fresno County’s Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District (CMAD).Debug Fresno will target the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito, which can transmit diseases like Zika, dengue, and
chikungunya. Aedes aegypti first appeared in the central valley of California in 2013, and since then has become pervasive in Fresno County. This study will be the largest U.S. release to-date of sterile male mosquitoes treated with Wolbachia, a naturally occurring bacterium, and will take place over a 20 week period in two neighborhoods each approximately 300 acres in size. When these sterile males mate with wild females the resulting eggs will not hatch. READ MORE
What happens if these Mosquitoes bite a human? There is transmission of fluid when this happens. Will humans become sterile?
So, if this experiment proves to be ‘successful’, I would think the natural response would be to try it in other species. Hmmm…where does it stop? Why is Google playing God? What if we include say, bedbugs in our little experiment and wow…no more bedbugs. That sounds good. And who’s to say where we draw the line. If we don’t see that some people should be having children…well, they’re already attempting to abort as many babies as possible, and sterilizing unsuspecting Kenyan women, putting dangerous hormones into our water…why not? Where, I wonder is the line???
meanwhile… “Vaccinations, FREE VACCINATIONS! Come and get your vaccinations! We care about you!