Google Applies to Release Up to 64 Million Lab Mosquitoes as Critics Warn of Irreversible Risks
Updated
Google submitted an application asking for permission from the EPA to release up to 64 million male mosquitoes over two years in parts of Florida and California as part of its Debug project. The stated goal is to suppress the next generation of mosquitoes, specifically the species (Culex quinquefasciatus) that carries West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis. The mosquitoes would be infected with the naturally occurring bacterium Wolbachia pipientis (strain wAlbB). These males will be sent out to mate with the wild females, and the eggs will fail to hatch. Only female mosquitoes bite to get additional protein and iron to develop their eggs.
The Federal Register notice was published on May 6, 2026, and public comments will be accepted through June 5, 2026. Epidemiologist Nicholas Hulscher said the experiment would be one of the largest open-air biological experiments in US history. He said this experiment could result in “irreversible ecological system disruptions.” Hulscher said that if a mosquito species is wiped out, other invasive species could fill that role, and there could be food chain disruptions for birds, bats, and frogs, which all eat mosquitoes.
While the goal is to cut down on mosquito-borne diseases like West Nile, Hulscher emphasized that there were only six confirmed cases of West Nile in Florida in 2025. California had 113 confirmed cases and 11 deaths in 2025 from West Nile.
The mosquitoes in the Google Debug project are infected with the bacterium and not genetically modified. Oxitec released genetically-modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys from 2021 to 2024 with the species (Aedes aegypti) that carries Zika and Yellow Fever. Unlike the Oxitec project, Google’s release plan includes only mosquitoes infected with a bacterium, not genetically modified ones.
The project also aims to reduce the use of pesticides to control mosquito populations and is ultimately regulated by the EPA as a pesticide. Pre-release risk assessments and modeling studies have been conducted and concluded that the risk of ecological harm is negligible, but there haven’t been any long-term empirical field monitoring studies to determine the impact of a large mosquito release like this.
Hulscher also pointed to a 2018 mosquito release trial in Fresno that did see the successful suppression of the mosquito population. “Once they stopped, all the mosquitoes came back,” Hulscher said. “Basically, Google wants to put people on a subscription service of mosquito releasing.”
During that 2018 trial, Debug released 14.4 million males across 293 hectares and achieved a 95.5% reduction rate in wild biting females compared to the control areas. Local elimination was not successful because wild females migrated from untreated areas.
Representative Tim Burchett spoke out against Google’s plan in a post on X. “Have we not learned our lesson with Kudzu, Sparrows, Black Birds, Asian Carp? Should I go on? Don’t mess with the balance of nature.”
Each of Rep Burchett’s examples involves human interventions with nature that were done with good intentions but resulted in ecological and economic damage. Kudzu was promoted by the government for erosion control and livestock forage in the 1930s-1950s, but it was an invasive species that smothered native forests. It is known as “the vine that ate the south” and costs a tremendous amount of money to control.
House Sparrows were released in Brooklyn in the 1850s to control insects like linden moths, but they displaced native birds from nesting sites across the continent. A small number of European Starlings were released in New York in 1890, but the population exploded, and they caused agricultural and infrastructure damage.
Asian Carp were imported in the 1970s to control algae and weeds in aquaculture ponds and wastewater facilities. They escaped into the Mississippi River basin due to flooding and continue to outcompete native fish, threatening the natural food web in the Great Lakes.
Male mosquitoes never bite, and the Google Debug project is planning to release only males into regions of California and Florida. There are concerns that females may be released by accident as part of the project, as the sorting process uses a computer algorithm. A company representative said they meticulously sort the mosquitoes by hand in the lab and then use the computer algorithm before the mosquitoes leave the factory. The company suggests the possibility of females getting released by accident is extremely low.
Debug, on its website, claims that releasing “good bugs” to stop “bad bugs” from reproducing is safe and more effective than using pesticides to combat mosquitoes.
“This technique uses a naturally occurring bacteria and uses no chemicals, no toxins, and doesn’t involve genetic modification,” the company website states. “Similar approaches have been used to safely combat other pests for decades. We’re combining the Debug team’s scientific and engineering expertise with the help of international partners to raise and release lots of good bugs and stop bad mosquitoes that can spread disease.”
There are over 250 comments posted on the Federal Register page, with most of the comments expressing concern about the potential ecological harms of the experiment. The last day to provide comments is Friday, June 5, and the EPA will evaluate whether to approve this application after reviewing the public comments. If approved, release could begin later in 2026.