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ACCORDING TO LIZ - Or just boost the population of treatment-resistant blood-sucking biters and the attendant ailments they spread?
Remember Wuhan? Mankind’s meddling with technology and nature may be well-intentioned by some, but the next time mutations jump to humans may end with our species going out, not with a bang but a whimper.
One of the most powerful corporations in the world is currently seeking U.S. government approval to release up to 32 million mosquitoes in California and the same number in Florida over two years, up to 64 million in all.
Code-named “Debug,” the Alphabet-owned Google company wants to introduce male mosquitoes infected with a bacteria called Wolbachia that stops their sperm from fertilizing the eggs of uninfected females, the theory being that over time the proliferation of disease-carrying mosquitos will plummet.
The promise to the unwitting human subjects of this grand experiment is that male mosquitoes don’t bite.
But the operative word above is “uninfected.”
Wolbachia already flourishes in some mosquito species including the common house mosquito. But not in the Aedes aegypti which is the type bringing dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, Zika, and West Nile virus to southern California.
While sterile insect releases can be effective in stopping propagation of insect-conveyed disease, the challenge here comes down to accurately sex-sorting mosquitoes before infecting them with the bacteria.
Google is using its engineers and scientists to build an A.I. vision system to separate males from females but, given the accuracy of A.I. in other endeavors, don’t hold your breath about their achieving 100 percent precision.
As of 2024, female “contamination rate” was high as 0.3 percent, and even such an infinitesimal number of Wolbachia-infected females would produce live larvae after mating with either Wolbachia-carrying or Wolbachia-free males. And pass on their resistance to Wolbachia infection.
Survival of the fittest means that their Wolbachia-contaminated female offspring would make up exponentially expanding numbers of future generations; an egg can develop into an adult in as few as five days in hot weather.
The public-comment period for Californians to object to EPA approval has come and gone. It closed in early June.
Americans who did respond appeared overwhelmingly unimpressed with the tech behemoth using compatriots as part of the experiment.
Comments ranged from conspiracy rants to concerned citizens voicing credible complaints.
The EPA postings includes the following from a Brooke Davis:
“Interfering with native populations and distributing infected males to mate with females does not seem stable for maintaining the native species and ecosystems of California and Florida. Mosquitoes are also apart of the food chain.
“Exterminating their populations will cause a ripple effect in other species in the area and could potentially cause more species to go extinct.
“Furthermore, having male mosquitoes with compromised health could potentially alter the gene pool of mosquito populations, leading to harsher unintended effects and potentially creating mosquitoes with compromised genes and immunities that could affect how humans interact with mosquitoes.
“This is an awful idea and it is shameful to even consider letting a billion dollar company alter the native ecosystems of the United States which are supposed to be protected.
“It also artificially creates a need for mosquito eradication, forcing Americans to spend their own money on a problem that a corporation only made to advertise their solution.
“It’s a despicable monopoly and the EPA should do better.”
A related 2019 study in Brazil, not using Wolbachia-bearing mosquitoes but going with genetically-modified males, inadvertently introduced lab DNA into the wild and the mutated mosquitoes began reproducing.
*** Horror fantasy: what if they meet up with A.I.-driven miniaturized Delta Force drones and begin multiplying?
Debug’s approach may be different, but the risk is the same. Radically experimental and uncontrollable large-scale
releases could backfire, jeopardizing the public.
While ramping up sterile fly production and dispersal is currently crucial to eradicating the recent eruption of New World screwworm cases – a flesh-eating pest not seen in the States since 1966, now reintroduced due to DOGE stupidities and lax Trumpian government policies – these flies are not DNA-manipulated nor are they bacteriologically-infected.
A study of Google’s Wolbachia approach by scientists in Colombia and at the University of California, Santa Cruz found that, while sterile insect release might be “much more environmentally friendly and can be effective in the medium/long term” compared to genetic modification, there was a “possibility of enhancement (rather than suppression) of virus transmission.”
And concluded that the “potential of Wolbachia-carrying released mosquitoes to facilitate the evolution and the spread of potentially harmful genes in the environment and the potential to of Wolbachia to increase the transmission of some viruses have not been fully investigated.”
Gotta love it when scientists triple-up on “potentials” in their opinions.
Yes, Google’s initial trials in Singapore resulted in an estimated 80-90% obliteration of its Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and an over 70% reduction in dengue cases. Evidence so far in that study has shown Wolbachia can’t be transmitted to humans.
But is that sufficient for rushing experimentation in California where Aedes aegypti transferred tropical diseases are not common nor endemic… but human sterility is a rising concern?
Whether the EPA approves the project or not, Americans are again facing the perils that arose when, in combating Covid, the government turned studies over to for-profit corporations.
For now, Californians should remain extra-vigilant in policing stagnant water – in gutters, buckets, planters, discarded trash, poorly-maintained pools and birdbaths, and in the crevices of plants including those indoors – to prevent development of all insect larvae.
And, since the EPA has not yet approved the request, it wouldn’t hurt to lobby your elected officials. It may be their children and yours that bear the brunt of consequences if time is not first taken for adequate government studies and oversight.
(Liz Amsden is a former Angeleno now living in Vermont and a regular CityWatch contributor. She writes on issues she’s passionate about, including social justice, government accountability, and community empowerment. Liz brings a sharp, activist voice to her commentary and continues to engage with Los Angeles civic affairs from afar. She can be reached at LizAmsden@hotmail.com.)
