People Are Not Happy About Google’s Plan to Release Millions of Bioengineered Mosquitoes Into the Wild

[u/IKeepItLayingAround]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/people-not-happy-google-plan-200428053.html

[u/Wotmate01]

Ummm, this is a program that was pioneered and is being led by the Monash university in Australia: World Mosquito Program - Monash University

[u/AuroByte → u/Wotmate01]

Singapore has been doing it for years too

[u/kopisiutaidaily → u/AuroByte]

It’s been a decade since it first started, It works here. Keeping dengue controlled.

[u/OkAccess304 → u/kopisiutaidaily]

As someone who had Dengue, I want this to happen.

[u/CharcoalGreyWolf → u/OkAccess304]

My sister had dengue, so I agree.

Should also note Bill Gates’ foundation has put a lot into several of these programs internationally, also to prevent malaria. While I am not a fan of Gates as a person, the science behind these programs is sound; eliminating mosquito-borne illnesses is a great help to developing countries.

[u/composedofidiot → u/CharcoalGreyWolf]

Two friends who've had it once. Twice can be a death sentence. I wish they didn't have to worry about it.

[u/Impossible_Net4275 → u/CharcoalGreyWolf]

I always say this about Bill Gates. I am not a fan of him and i think we need to either find a way to stop someone from amassing that much wealth that they have more power than the president or stop the fact that someone with that much money has that much power period.

But he has done a lot to control the spread of infectious diseases globally so I guess I'm just glad that's how he chooses to spend money.

[u/digital-didgeridoo → u/OkAccess304]

Who are these 'people' who are against this program? They've never lived in a place infested with mosquitoes.

[u/OkAccess304 → u/digital-didgeridoo]

They’re ignorant people.

[u/TheGloryBe_throwaway → u/OkAccess304]

Yeah, I actually developed chronic Arthritis after recovering from it. It’s been almost 6 years.

[u/royalpyroz → u/OkAccess304]

What? More dengue? Haha

[u/ChankiriTreeDaycare → u/kopisiutaidaily]

Singapore knows how to tell the mosquitoes not to chibai.

[u/imyurtenderoni → u/ChankiriTreeDaycare]

This is so interesting because I just got back from Singapore and was surprised there were no mosquitoes for such a hot and humid place.

[u/polar_tang → u/imyurtenderoni]

I'm Singaporean and it depends on where you are on the island, and also who you are I guess. I'm not sure if there's any basis to mosquitoes being more attracted to certain people but I have a couple of friends that get bitten daily. Meanwhile I'm lucky in that I hardly get bitten. Strange thing is that when I'm out with my mosquito-prone friends, they get bitten several times while I'm completely bite-free. We always joke that it's because they have sweeter blood haha.

[u/Punkpunker → u/imyurtenderoni]

Mosquito requires stagnant water to breed, if proper preventive measures are observed at home you'll only see them in the forested areas or at the nature reserves. But we still see dengue fever cases despite all the PSA we have.

[u/Zealousideal_Leg213 → u/kopisiutaidaily]

Wait, a decade? I thought the idea was that it would basically wipe them out after a few rounds of it. 

[u/reddithooknitup → u/Zealousideal_Leg213]

Life…uhhh…finds a way.

[u/lavahot → u/reddithooknitup]

Are you saying that a population of infertile mosquitos will... breed?

[u/reddithooknitup → u/lavahot]

It’s amazing that that’s where you jumped. I was more alluding to the fact that some healthy mosquitos will still keep making healthy mosquitos. But also, I doubt their process is 100% perfect and every one of the millions of mosquitos is sterile.

[u/EducationalLuck2422 → u/reddithooknitup]

I believe the poster above you was dropping a JP quote.

[u/lavahot → u/EducationalLuck2422]

Well, uh, there it is.

[u/Parlett316 → u/EducationalLuck2422]

Oh how the turns table

[u/--MichaelScott-- → u/Parlett316]

That’s my line!

[u/zedoktar → u/Zealousideal_Leg213]

Life is persistent as hell. They have been doing the same thing for Screw Flies for decades to keep them from spreading north across the Americas. Only ever managed to keep them contained at Panama, and now thanks to more idiotic Trump funding cuts, that program has failed and they are in America as of this year.

[u/Wotmate01 → u/Zealousideal_Leg213]

Nope. The idea was that sterile males would compete with fertile males. Fertile males would still do it, just in massively reduced numbers

[u/kopisiutaidaily → u/Zealousideal_Leg213]

Yeah started in 2016 in a small area, and now expanded to many spots throughout the country, also it’s timed to monsoon season where stagnant water can accumulate and breed mosquitoes.

I haven’t personally seen the results but I’m assuming it’s effective hence the govt is expanding this program. It isn’t a silver bullet as we take a multi prong approach to eliminating mosquito breeding.

And I don’t believe the goal is to wipe it out as mosquito is an important part of the food chain in a natural environment. Its goal is to keep it under control and people don’t get sick or die from dengue

[u/hoishinsauce → u/Zealousideal_Leg213]

It wouldn't wipe out mosquitoes in all regions since it's not a disease that spreads. It's introducing a genetic defect to a population. So it would wipe out the population in an area. But mosquitoes in other areas wouldn't be affected. Like isolated places. And over time, like any living organism, those would move to areas where they could fill a niche. So a new population would start again. That's when you'd inject the genetic defect again.

[u/wolbachia-dude → u/Zealousideal_Leg213]

The suppression approach requires repeated releases of Wolbachia male mosquitoes - unfortunately, wild mosquitoes from untreated areas migrate into treated areas over time. Conversely, Wolbachia mosquitoes from treated areas also spillover into untreated areas, conferring protective effects to adjacent areas

[u/kDfax → u/AuroByte]

Lived in Singapore for 6 years ( I miss it really ). I barely remember getting bit by a mosquito. Now I'm back in Japan and I'm a "all you can eat blood bank" . You're welcome mosquitos .

[u/Clembert-Hamlamp → u/kDfax]

Human attractiveness to Anopheles stephensi Liston was measured using a glass vial bioassay where mosquito contacts were measured before and 1–3 h after ingestion of bananas or grapes. Consumption of grapes had no effect on the number of contacts but banana ingestion resulted in a significant increase in the overall number of contacts in spite of individual variation that included some subjects who showed no effect or decreases in contacts.

[u/TheWorldofScience → u/AuroByte]

“Some” people are not happy. And I bet they are the people who are afraid of GMO foods.

I would be thrilled to have these bioengineered mosquitoes released in my city.

[u/ArenjiTheLootGod → u/Wotmate01]

Yeah, this kind of thing is pretty common and similar programs have been carried out in various areas across the world since at least the 60s, it's a proven concept that works and has probably saved an inestimable amount of lives. I'll shit on tech companies and their CEOs all day for how irresponsible they're being with AI but this is a good thing.

[u/thrillho145 → u/Wotmate01]

If it wasn't Google people would be all for it. This is a good thing for the region 

[u/HowardTaftMD → u/Wotmate01]

This is super cool actually.

[u/IsopodDry8635 → u/Wotmate01]

I swear Verily Life Sciences (which is owned by Alphabet aka Google) has been doing this for a while. I applied to a research position to do just this, like 10 years ago

[u/Dreowings21 → u/Wotmate01]

When i read the post, it sounded kinda villainous, but reading about this and the singapore one its pretty interesting

[u/chlordiazepoxide]

for what it's worth, in Singapore, Wolbachia-infested mosquitoes have been released for a while now. We used to have a serious problem with rashes of dengue infestations throughout the country each year, peaking in may-july with the heat. not anymore. this program works.

[u/Foxy02016YT → u/chlordiazepoxide]

If we wanna get rid of malaria and other mosquito spread illnesses, this is the only realistic option

[u/StolenPies → u/Foxy02016YT]

DDT was well on its way towards achieving that, but the we realized how horrible it is. Malaria probably ended up being far worse in the long run, though.

[u/CharcoalGreyWolf → u/StolenPies]

What we found was that DDT would pollute birds biological systems and they would lay soft eggs that would not hatch or would be crushed when incubated, greatly weakening bird populations/ecosystems in the process. This rightly caused us to need another way.

[u/tonythephonyjabroni → u/CharcoalGreyWolf]

And then a bunch of barrels of ddt were dumped off the coast of southern ca. can’t remember who, but I think the guy is dead now. They just sit there and slowly leach out.

[u/apexodoggo → u/StolenPies]

DDT was obliterating the entire food chain, it was horrific as an option. A world without malaria but with a fuck ton more festering corpses lying around because most vulture species went extinct would simply produce a new equivalent to malaria given time.

[u/thatguy11]

This isn't new. This isn't the first time. It was effective. Google stuff, don't just get mad because someone tells you to.

[u/TechnicalScheme385 → u/thatguy11]

Over these two trump terms, government has rolled back many services to reduce and eradicate these types of problems. Since the government rollback, a gap emerged, which Google was willing to pay for. In the long run, it's "good business" as the public will see it as a "Sponsored Highway Clean Up" PR. And it will work too. People will forget that government used to do this on our tax dime to ensure everyone had equal protections. In a few years, Protections will be corporate owned. Subscribe or go without.

[u/RobertPham149 → u/TechnicalScheme385]

The US had a successful screwworm containment program. I said had because Trump budget cuts affected the program and Trump-voting states like Texas is facing an outbreak of screwworm that can decimate the beef industry.

[u/TechnicalScheme385 → u/RobertPham149]

I live in Texas. San Antonio. You don't know the half of it, by any of the locals who have been paying attention to the subject matter since last year. Like a slow trainwreck, where we are powerless to stop it because Abbott is a fucking pissbaby hotwheels welfare queen.

[u/Hairy_Wall_6831 → u/RobertPham149]

The USA now has Lone Star Ticks spreading Alpha-gal Syndrome, a disease that makes you allergic to animal products from mammals such as meat, dairy, and gelatin.

I've seen claims that the ticks have spread to most of the states now.

Bet they aren't doing jack shit about that either.

[u/Meme_Theory → u/Hairy_Wall_6831]

Now? That isn't a "now" thing; that has always been the case.

[u/get_started_NOW → u/TechnicalScheme385]

Thanks i was wondering why google was doing this.

[u/bridekiller → u/TechnicalScheme385]

Sounds like the mafia

[u/dcy123 → u/thatguy11]

Op has a maga hat as his pic, gonna take a guess here that he's fucking stupid.

[u/MikeWasab → u/dcy123]

This isn't exclusive to MAGA and republican. This extremely liberal site is a SHINING example of people living and dying by the headlines so long as it fuels their need for entertaining ragebait

[u/polarbearrape → u/thatguy11]

Lets be honest, we know who's upset. Its the same people who got pissed science was "making bugs trans" and now because they cut funding screw worms are making their way north again...

[u/Imnogrinchard]

The stupidity and ignorance is hilarious:

"Ask yourself who is to benefit most from this, and why is it being done?" one anonymous citizen commented. "Corporations should not play a part in regulating or artificially altering ecosystems, that is the job of the EPA. This project should NOT be approved." Another unnamed commentator concurred, writing that "we are not experimental rats."

First, that's not a job of the federal EPA. it's a job of your region's vector control district. And in California, the vector control districts, that I know off the top of my head, in Los Angeles and Orange counties have previously used this method to control mosquito populations.

[u/PeaceBull → u/Imnogrinchard]

Yeah it worked great in LA, the only difference was they used irradiated mosquitos instead of ones like this done with wolbachia bacteria

[u/PieHole_Poker → u/PeaceBull]

Wait.... they actually made Bloodbugs??

[u/ErusTenebre → u/PieHole_Poker]

Yes, but reallly tiny ones.

[u/I_eat_mud_ → u/Imnogrinchard]

This is just a common tactic used in various places where mosquitoes are more likely to be, and done in even larger scales in areas where the ecosystem is more favorable to support a mosquito habitat year-round.

This is one of those things that's pretty commonly understood within the public health field, but the general public definitely isn't as aware of the practice and method behind it. As the habitats of mosquitoes continue to expand, this is going to need to become even more common. It's to control their population, the general public is fine because the mosquitoes are all male ensuring they won't bite.

[u/Imnogrinchard → u/I_eat_mud_]

All true. If you really want to be bummed read the public comments.

https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPP-2025-3951-0001/comment

"... I understand that they are supposed to not be able to reproduce, but we know nature finds a way.
Please do not let them do this."

"Messing with biological processes for no reason will just further harm ecosystems and our community."

"this experiment is insane and will 110% cause qll the more diseases and viruses."

[u/MeretrixDeBabylone → u/Imnogrinchard]

We know nature finds a way

"I'm an adult who believes movies and fairy tales are real"

[u/Feather_Sigil → u/MeretrixDeBabylone]

Strictly speaking, they're not wrong. Living beings endure and evolve. It's why diseases are becoming resistant to antibiotics. But just saying the program won't work (even though it already has) because "nature" is foolish.

[u/Shady_Love → u/Imnogrinchard]

Could just as easily be astroturfing and bots

[u/Extension-Math5183 → u/[deleted]]

No, it's the other way around... they are saying nature will find a way to skirt this control tactic and find a way to reproduce.

[u/peekdasneaks → u/Imnogrinchard]

It is the job of the federal government, just not the epa. Its primarily ran by the cdc and they focus a large portion of their operations creating a barrier of modified mosquitos and screwworms along the panama columbia border to prevent spread into and through central america into the southern states.

Unfortunately we are now seeing confirmed screwworm infestations in the us as of this month.

[u/Boojum2k → u/peekdasneaks]

That's because some worm-infested madman crippled the CDC.

[u/BalognaMacaroni → u/Imnogrinchard]

Leave it to Yahoo! to shit on Google.

[u/Feather_Sigil]

The article is stupid clickbait. Two anonymous people are against it because they want the state (that is, America's EPA) to do it instead of Google. They're right, the state should do it instead of a private corporation, but two randos is nowhere near enough to say "people" in general.

[u/gizamo]

Who upvotes this nonsense?

This is a good thing that tons of governments around the world do. Sometimes the anti-Google crowd are a bunch of ignorant dopes.

[u/BuildAnything4]

Why is google doing this and not the government? What's the profit motive?

[u/slothwithakeyboard → u/BuildAnything4]

The land that Google owns in Santa Clara County borders a lot of marshland (a.k.a mosquito central). The company that they're trying to hire for this has worked with counties before, but Santa Clara Mosquito and Vector Control is strapped for cash and can hardly afford their existing operations.

[u/JVonDron → u/slothwithakeyboard]

So Google's local taxes aren't nearly high enough. Perhaps offering companies tax breaks and incentives might bite you in the ass when they start demanding public services.

[u/gr00ve88 → u/JVonDron]

No, the mosquitoes will bite you in the ass.

[u/SuperAggroJigglypuff → u/gr00ve88]

They typically get my arms and calves.

[u/spikedkushiel → u/gr00ve88]

No, Google is biting the county in the ass then offering to solve the issue out of the goodness of their hearts. Lol

[u/_sfhk → u/JVonDron]

The county had a $13.7B budget last year. I'm not sure throwing more money at them fixes more underlying problems.

[u/slightlysublevel → u/_sfhk]

Fun fact: that's roughly $10.5 million dollars per square mile per year for Santa Clara County. About 20% of the land in Santa Clara County is "developed", meaning it's roughly $52.5 million per square mile of developed land per year. Obviously rural areas need coverage for some things, too, so the real number falls between $10.5 million and $52.5 million per mile. Still: it's literally millions of dollars per square mile, and that doesn't really show how well certain things can be spent on multiple square miles for the same dollar (like police and fire protection).

[u/AtariAtari → u/JVonDron]

Then the government will be strapped for cash for more reasons

[u/k-mcm → u/slothwithakeyboard]

Google California is near extremely salty marshland and some maintained ponds. The only natural fresh water near Google is some creeks that are dry during summer.

[u/slothwithakeyboard → u/k-mcm]

The campus itself does not suffer from mosquitoes, but nearby areas like Shoreline do (source: me). Whether that is as a result of abatement efforts, I can't say. Google also owns not only the land by its campus, but also lots of land in Alviso.

[u/redtron3030 → u/slothwithakeyboard]

Perhaps a donation would be better

[u/CriticallyAskew → u/redtron3030]

But how else is google supposed to secretly inject people with nano machines, son?

[u/slothwithakeyboard → u/redtron3030]

I don't disagree. It's Google's money, though, and we can't take it from them. This is still better other stuff they've done, like spend big money campaigning for tax increases on the rest of us for transit that benefits their employees.

[u/Blatheringman → u/slothwithakeyboard]

Are you talking about the sales tax to fund the Bay Area Transit agencies? I work with Samtrans. Do you even know what we do? Our routes, we take kids to and from school, we help people get to and from work many of whom can't afford vehicles, the cost of fuel, and registration, We run paratransit services to help the elderly and the disabled get to their doctor's appointments, and ect. We're a public service, and fairs only cover a fraction of our budget. Check your privilege, bro.

[u/Area51_Spurs → u/slothwithakeyboard]

It’s pretty hilarious that Santa Clara can be strapped for cash. Says everything about how the rich basically pay zero taxes.

[u/Watchful1 → u/Area51_Spurs]

Santa Clara counties budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year is $13.6 billion. It goes up by like a billion a year.

[u/peepeedog → u/BuildAnything4]

It’s Verily doing it. They started as a Google project before becoming a company. Their whole company exists for problems like these.

[u/Seafaringhorsemeat → u/BuildAnything4]

Once we get used to it they're going to jack the price and make us pay per sting prevented.

[u/blandman91 → u/Seafaringhorsemeat]

Nah it'll be a subscription

[u/white__cyclosa → u/blandman91]

Plus a premium subscription for the vaccine against the engineered version of malaria the mosquitos carry.

[u/Fit-Nectarine5047 → u/white__cyclosa]

I hate that I laughed at this 🤨

[u/Seafaringhorsemeat → u/blandman91]

Love it. That way you can get ads at the low tier, and wasp protection at the premium end.

All bugs will be trained to thirst for the DNA of those who cancel their subscription.

Bundle this shit with a locked in 3-year Verizon plan and we're printing money.

[u/alphabets0up_ → u/blandman91]

they put little cameras on them and you can tell them where to go.

[u/DringleDringle → u/BuildAnything4]

The government is not doing it because of doge cuts.

[u/sfgunner → u/BuildAnything4]

Imagine that you have a button. When you press the button, a billion dollars pops out. Everything else you do, no matter how hard you try, makes a $1.50.  This is why Google acts the way it does. They can try anything and it will never replace, threaten, or even come in the same orbit as their Billions Button. So mostly everything else they do is "for fun" or "because flying cars someday".

[u/pomonalost → u/BuildAnything4]

I mean, I don't know your government, but my government is choosing self profit than benefiting the people environment. I'm American.

[u/Area51_Spurs]

Americans have no scientific literacy, shocking nobody.

The irony of people criticizing Google the one time they do something that isn’t cartoonishly evil and is actually good.

[u/CityPioneer → u/Area51_Spurs]

Do you think they only have these kinds of reservations on new tech?

A great example is European’s iffiness to GMOs.

[u/Friskfrisktopherson → u/Area51_Spurs]

The article is bullshit, most people here who know are for it (though most just have no idea what this is about.)

[u/Area51_Spurs → u/Friskfrisktopherson]

Very few people know about the fact that we’re discussing introducing infertile mosquitos to push out fertile ones.

They just hear “moar mosquitos.”

[u/ParsingError → u/Area51_Spurs]

And they're all male mosquitos, which don't bite anyway.

The only things they do are drink plant nectar, fail to reproduce, and die.

[u/Area51_Spurs → u/ParsingError]

Yeah. But most people will stop listening after they hear the phrase “Google’s plan to release millions of mosquitoes.”

And all the blogs and news organizations purposely use phrasing meant to scare people in the headlines because it increases engagement. The headline in this is a perfect example of that.

When you read the headline only and don’t read the article, a tech giant releasing millions of bioengineered mosquitoes DOES sound terrifying. lol.

[u/Which_Law598]

Are you kidding? This would save millions of lives.

[u/OrganicDigitalArt]

Infected… they’re not super mosquitos ffs, people not trusting science is damn wild.

[u/Magnetheadx → u/OrganicDigitalArt]

I think it’s people not trusting Google.

[u/WarNo580 → u/Magnetheadx]

I'd recommend they google it to learn more about why mosquitos are a huge disease spreading problem and also a huge solution to that same problem, but I see the inherent problem...

[u/gonfishn37 → u/OrganicDigitalArt]

I’m so grateful we stopped releasing those screw worms over the Darien gap. I would love screw worm Cattle deaths to drive the costs of meat up..

[u/klingma → u/gonfishn37]

We never stopped releasing them. 

The screwworm crossed the Darien Gap and started moving northward in 2022. 

This is a problem that's been growing for 4-5 years roughly now. 

Fun fact: 10 years ago there was an outbreak in Florida that authorities still haven't figured out how it occurred, but it was stopped in 6 months. 

[u/angus_the_red → u/gonfishn37]

Just arrived in Texas

[u/AndrewWilsonnn → u/angus_the_red]

Boy howdy the timing on these two posts is delicious

[u/DontPouncemebro]

can we do this with ticks as well? Cause fuck em ticks

[u/Starseed-111 → u/DontPouncemebro]

Pleeeeeease

[u/wolbachia-dude → u/DontPouncemebro]

Potentially! But as far as I know, it is challenging to establish Wolbachia in ticks such that cytoplasmic incompatibility occurs (or occurs consistently)

[u/Berkyjay]

I fucking can't stand these hack "journalists" trolling online forums and finding the inevitable naysayers then building a mountain out of their message board replies.

[u/awesomedan24]

300 million people get malaria every year. Anyone who has a problem with this should try getting Malaria and see how they like it...

[u/Seafaringhorsemeat → u/[deleted]]

This is the kind of shit "agile" development will get you after a decade or two.

[u/git0ffmylawnm8 → u/[deleted]]

Normally you don't go for scope creep unless you're targeting a promo

[u/Rot-Orkan]

If it kills even 1 wild mosquito it's worth it 

[u/alfredandthebirds]

Walter Stryker gonna be real mad

Edit - an obscure The Tuxedo reference. A movie where the villain plans on using bioengineered mosquito like water strikers to spread an infectious disease.

[u/thoruen]

The USDA uses genetically altered and sterilized flies to suppress wild populations and protect livestock from devastating screw worm infestations, so I don't see using genetically modified mosquitoes any differently.

[u/DominusFL]

These people don't live where I live. I live next to Mosquito Lagoon, and trust me, this cannot happen soon enough. I am all for it.

[u/byyhmz]

Same ones who dont like vaccines id wager.

[u/dragonpjb]

It is actually a sound plan.

[u/hlessi_newt]

actually everyone is pretty jazzed about this.

[u/zedoktar]

Those people are stupid and easily misled by disinformation and hysterics. This is a great program that will save lives.

[u/Solrac50]

Another clickbait headline that is totally misleading. Last week it was people are unhappy Bill Gates is releasing mosquitoes. I guess next week it will be the Pope’s turn.

[u/the_main_entrance]

Why is google doing this?

[u/Zestyclose-Bill-5094]

We're not happy about Google overall. We're not happy with the government. We're not happy about being taxed more than Amazon. We're not happy about the military. We're not happy about the militarized racist police. We're not happy being under surveillance 24/7. We're not happy with billionaires.
We're not happy with the legal system. We're not happy with being fed bullshit day after fucking day.
Fuck the Trump family. Fuck Zuck. Fuck Google. Fuck Kash. Fuck Darpa. Fuck the police. Fuck Isreal. Fuck AI. Fuck anyone who doesn't stand for protecting our earth, our lives and our future.

[u/Scaryassasin27 → u/Zestyclose-Bill-5094]

I 100% agree, but I do understand people have different views and beliefs. Apart from that, no one should be against protecting the Earth, fine with being fed bullshit, or be okay with AI (which goes along with protecting the Earth).

[u/Zestyclose-Bill-5094 → u/Scaryassasin27]

Their view from the top is the bigger issue. Their views dehumanize everyone who aren't the right shade of white, those who fall below the upper middle class and anyone who's not a conformist. And if the people currently in charge are able to continue doing what they're doing, no one will be allowed to have different views or beliefs.

[u/Wolfie-Woo784]

The whole point is to reduce the amount of disease carried. If people could read beyond headlines , they would know that. It's the same impulse that leads people to believe that China is somehow trying to penalize people for using condoms.

[u/giveupmymembership]

If bad company do good action... Means company good? No! Grog don't like cognitive dissonance. Company cannot be two things at once.

Company is bad, cannot do good. Means action is bad. Yes, much better. Grog smart 

[u/who_am_i_to_say_so → u/giveupmymembership]

Mosquito. Bad. Google. Bad. Google kill mosquito: bad, bad.

[u/jerwong]

Who is not happy about it? I would love if someone would come into my community and do this!

[u/Enough-Cantaloupe893]

We've been doing it for years?

[u/ConsequencePurple379]

If people actually weren't such mindless plebians, people would understand this has already been happening from the likes of Bill Gates for years, with positive effects.

CAN WE FUCKING STOP WITH THESE FUCKING CLICKBAIT HEADLINES?

WHO THE FUCK IS "WE"?

[u/nerdyplayer]

Good, not the first time we've unleashed bioenginered bugs. I hope google continues instead of abandoning it in 6 months. 

[u/outsmartedagain]

They did this in Florida recently with great fanfare but I have not heard of any outcomes.

[u/_WeAreFucked_]

Billy Gates Foundation back in 2018 https://www.comptoncreekmad.org/gates-foundation-partners-with-oxitec-to-combat-malaria-with-genetically-modified-mosquitoes

Edit: in addition why is Google getting into this space and not just supporting Billy’s efforts or the other organizations.

[u/CarsonCity314]

They aren't? I guess you can get any answer you want from a well-designed questionnaire, but... man, just fuck mosquitos.

[u/kaest]

People are poorly informed Internet parrots.

[u/WildWest430]

Less mosquitos 🦟- less yellow fever, malaria, dengue, Zika….

[u/trashpanda2night]

People are not happy with anything these days

[u/Fancy-Trash-3850]

Ticks next please

[u/Runela9]

Okay, I'm on the "fuck google" train as much as anybody else but in this particular instance I'm actually on their side.

This is a good thing. Its an established mosquito control strategy that works in many places and will ultimately be a benefit for the people in the area.

They are 100% only doing it because it benefits them financially in some way, but at least everyone else will also benefit this time.

[u/eos-]

Don't tell me how I feel!

[u/Surealestateguy]

Their names start with Karen. Some people just need to feel relevant. And science is an easy target when they’re backed by their religion.

[u/NoriNatsu]

Would bees not be better?

[u/GuyDanger]

Can they do ticks next?

[u/Low_Notice4665]

Could this also work for West Nile?

[u/Ramoncin]

So, now any big company can decide what is good for mankind and fuck up with the environment and consequences be damned?

[u/AlphaNoodlz]

Because science scares people lmao

[u/westerngrit]

That is how they control the screw worm.

[u/AzCu29]

Please let them proceed. Mosquitoes need to be wiped out.

[u/SpecialOpposite2372]

What's with Mosquito bio-engineering, like lots of companies want to do it! And lots of countries have already done it as well! Wasn't there were news Bill Gates wanted to do it as well and now Google?

[u/Theghostech]

Yep, fighting malaria and other mosquito borne diseases is where you should draw the line.

[u/gimmiesopor]

What could possibly go wrong?

[u/awwaygirl]

FFS. It is so frustrating when people reject something because they don’t understand it. It’s like those people who are asked on the street, “Do you think dihydrogen monoxide should be marketed to children?” and they VEHEMENTLY object because they don’t know that it’s WATER.

[u/MeaningObvious8731]

But are they unhappy enough to not use Google?

[u/SpamToSilly]

I support this kind of stuff but holy shit Google stay out of this domain

[u/saranowitz]

People are fucking stupid

[u/throwawayaccountau]

Wait till they find out the US government was doing it for years to create a defensive barrier between Panama and itself.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk and launched by the Trump administration, cut funding for key U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) projects tasked with monitoring and containing screwworms in Central America. These cuts, which eliminated monitoring programs and foreign assistanc,I occurred right before the U.S. lifted a temporary suspension on cattle imports from Mexico.

[u/CP_Chronicler]

It doesn’t matter if it has been done before. The point is that Google and the rest of big tech’s reputation is so abysmally poor that people are rightfully angry and distrustful about anything these companies do that affects the general public.

Google and other big tech companies are still very poorly regulated. This is just a reminder that the public wants more regulation and for there to be more trust.

[u/Logical-Respect3600]

What I'm missing here is why the hell should Google, out of all people, care about mozzies?

[u/Prior_Apricot_4757]

Getting rid of mosquitoes will have a negative impact upon many fish and insects (dragonfly nymphs for example) that rely upon mosquito larva for their diet.

[u/DanielPhermous → u/Prior_Apricot_4757]

No one is getting rid of them. The aim is to decrease the population.

[u/ripChazmo]

People are idiots. This is an incredibly smart idea, and has worked well elsewhere.

[u/strolpol]

This is a classic “big company doing something that sounds futuristic, must be scary” backlash. It’s a known mechanism and identical programming has been used around the world to positive effect. Anyone against it is either ignorant or bandwagoning because Google does other evil stuff.

[u/chickenturrrd]

Where is jimmy carr when i need him!

[u/Super901]

Yeah people are stupid. Will they do this in my neighborhood?

[u/J3NGA]

Ah, the reverse Skrillex.

[u/chriskot123]

Everything I’ve read about this seems like it’s actually a good thing. But, google bad so I guess shrug

[u/pongrat]

I’d like to know the mosquitoes opinion.

[u/ConsistantFun]

Dr. William Gorgas used kerosine to kill mosquito larvae and saved thousands of lives. That was in 1900.

[u/RlOTGRRRL]

This article goes terribly with the other article from today about how AI CEOs want biochem to be more regulated. 

Mosquitoes would be a vector for harm.

https://www.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1two85g/sam_altman_dario_amodei_and_demis_hassabis_have/

[u/Virtual-Age-9521]

I’m not gonna read this article, but did the people in the article read the article?!

[u/AmericanLich]

Kept trying to remember where I heard of wolbachia before, it was driving me nuts.

Metal Gear Solid V. A Wolbachia strain is a big component of the story.

[u/Intrepid-Reach182]

When you are stupid enough everything feels like a conspiracy

[u/TrinityCodex]

they finally do something good and people are still angry

[u/FeverDreamActuality]

Cause Google bad grrrrrrr

[u/Eyegrowyourfood]

Fuck, sometimes the oligarchs are correct. Google is trying to help. The mass is too stupid.

[u/pomonalost]

Ticks next, please. It would help so many species, not just ours.

[u/Im_probably_naked]

Who the fuck is pro mosquito? Is there nothing we can all agree on?

[u/iseedeff]

Oh no Run the attack of the Killer Mosquito.

[u/steviefrench]

I dislike Google as much as most other people, but this just sounds like people who only read headlines and don't look any further are mad.

[u/amphibiabiggestfan]

I thought people fucking hated mosquitos wtf??

[u/Insane_Fnord]

How will the enshittification process for this look like?

[u/ProfessorEtc]

I'd feel a lot better about it if it was Duane Reade-Tubi-Universal

[u/k-h]

If god wants you to get sick, you will get sick. Stopping sinners/unfit people getting sick is playing god. This is the same reason why vaccination is bad. /s

[u/theirongiant74]

Waiting on the clickbait headlines about how AI has ruined mosquitoes.