Google's Parent, Alphabet, Has Found A Way To Eliminate Mosquitoes

Dhir Acharya - Nov 30, 2018

After years of trying, finally, scientists may completely remove mosquitoes. The new method comes from Alphabet Inc.'s Verily Life Sciences.

Reports suggest that Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., is searching for solutions to eradicate mosquitoes related diseases all over that world. Bloomberg noted that scientists in Fresno, California, are working on the same thing.

Alphabet Inc.’s subsidiary Verily Life Sciences, are conducting tests in which they infect male Aedes aegpypti mosquitoes a bacterium preventing their offspring from hatching, and then released them. Jacob Crawford, a major scientist at Verily Life Sciences, they bred the samples in the firm’s automatic mosquito rearing system.

Verily Life Sciences

If the test in Fresno shows success, the company will implement this method worldwide, especially in regions where mosquitoes are spreading dengue as well as other diseases.

It’s worth noting that yellow fever mosquito, aka. Aedes aegpypti, is one species that spread rapidly. They approached Fresno in 2013, after making their way to Clovis and Madera. The authorities received a lot of phone calls from people reporting that they got bitten by mosquitoes during daytimes.

Back then, scientists failed to eliminate Aedes aegpypti. Plus, they appear to be one of the deadliest species on Earth with the ability to spread several diseases, including chikungunya and dengue.

Recalling the event, director Jodi Holeman of scientific services, Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District, Fresno County, said that after discovering the mosquito, they tried everything to prevent its reproduction and to completely remove it. But no matter what they did, they failed.

Aedes aegpypti mosquitoes

However, with this new initiative from Verily Life Sciences, things can change. According to reports, the program has resulted in 95 percent of Aedes aegypti mosquito population reduced this year.

Originating from Africa, Aedes aegpypti now appears in many regions across the world, including temperate, subtropical and tropical. You can quite easily recognize them by the white markings on their legs.

In fact, only females bite for blood to mature her eggs, which is the way it spread diseases throughout the world.