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China Is Releasing 5 Million Bacteria Infested Mosquitoes A Week – Here’s Why

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The next time you search for a way to kill all mosquitoes, think again. China is releasing 3 million bacteria-infected mosquitoes on a 3 km (two-mile) long island every week. 

Intrigued?

Yes Chinese in order to eradicate out diseases like dengue, Zika and yellow fever etc inject mosquito eggs with wolbachia bacteria and then let these infected male mosquito on the outskirts of the city of Guangzhou. These infect male mosquitoes sterilize the females they mate with.  

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With a facility that has a capacity to breed up to five million mosquitoes a week, the mosquito eggs are collected from 5,000 females and 1,600 males and the male is injected with the wolbachia bacteria. 

 

A female mosquito that infected by mating becomes sterile and the female that is infected by injection will produce wolbachia-infected offspring. helping to continue the cycle.

Diseases like Dengue, yellow fever and Zika are also eradicated in wolbachia-injected females, thus reducing the circulation of these diseases.

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Well, hopefully we don't have to get our own cage of breeding mosquitoes yet.

 

Vijay Alagar
the authorVijay Alagar
Young and Ambitious; Better at Videogames than at life. Works as a creative writer by day, Batman at night.

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