To Shrink The Mosquito Population, Scientists Are Releasing 20 Million Of Them
Scientists plan to release millions of sterile, male bacteria-infected mosquitoes in California, to breed with wild females. They're hoping for a "steep decline" in the species that carries Zika.
This summer, scientists in California are releasing 20 million mosquitoes in an effort to shrink the population of mosquitoes that can carry diseases.
It sounds counterintuitive. But the plan is to release millions of sterile male mosquitoes, which will then mate with wild female mosquitoes. The eggs the females lay won't hatch, researchers say.
The project is called and is being undertaken by Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google's holding company.
