Why Google wants to release millions of mosquitoes

Google wants to release more than 30 million mosquitoes in the United States.

But don't worry, there is such a thing as a good mosquito, and Google has an army of them.

The tech giant wants to “stop bad bugs with good bugs” with its cleverly named “Debug” program. It's asking the U.S. government for permission to release up to 32 million mosquitoes, split between Florida and California.

The 32 million "good bugs" are male mosquitoes infused with a natural bacteria called wolbachia, which makes them sterile. When they mate with wild females, eggs are produced that will not hatch, reducing the next generation of mosquitoes, according to Google. And since male mosquitoes don't bite, there is no disease transmission risk.

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Mosquitoes kill more people than every other animal combined by spreading diseases including West Nile virus, dengue, malaria, Zika and more, as reported by The Guardian.

Releasing male mosquitoes sterilized by wolbachia bacteria has been done for about 15 years, as reported by The Palm Beach Post, and similar programs have had success in Singapore and parts of Florida. If Google's request for an experimental use permit is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, this would be one of the largest deliberate insect releases in U.S. history.

But why Google? Well, it's because the Debug Project is not just a biology experiment, it's a massive automation and engineering problem that relies on Google's technological and AI abilities.

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