A mosquito feeds at the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District on July 26, 2023, in Salt Lake City | AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File
Sunday, May 31, 2026
By Will Conybeare/KTLA 5
When you think of Google “debugging” something, you probably think of software – not actual bugs. Yet, the tech giant is seeking approval from the United States government to release up to 32 million mosquitoes in California and Florida as part of its “Debug” program.
The little-known program aims to “stop bad bugs with good bugs” by releasing millions of sterile mosquitoes to eliminate ones that carry disease.
Mosquitoes are the deadliest animal in the world, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Out of the over 3,500 species of mosquitoes, one species alone, Aedes aegypti, carries dengue fever, Zika and chikungunya, which sicken hundreds of millions of people per year.
“They’re a difficult problem to solve,” Google Debug says on its project homepage, further explaining that most diseases carried by mosquitoes don’t have effective vaccines or treatments. “Attacking mosquitoes with pesticides is unsustainable because they’re becoming less effective over time and can be toxic, [and] clearing standing water is not enough because people can never find all the places that mosquitoes breed.”
“We need a new approach,” Google concludes.
So, what exactly is that approach? Well, bugs – but “good” ones.
“Good bugs are the same species of mosquito as the bad bugs that spread disease. Our good bugs are male mosquitoes that have a naturally-occurring bacteria called Wolbachia which makes them unable to have offspring with wild female mosquitoes,” the Google Debug webpage reads. “Male mosquitoes can’t bite or spread disease, so good bugs will stop bad ones from reproducing. Over time, there will be fewer and fewer bad mosquitoes.”
“This technique uses a naturally occurring bacteria and uses no chemicals, no toxins and doesn’t involve genetic modification,” Google Debug scientists continued. “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.”
The scientists further stated that their approach is different than other eradication projects from the past in that they are using data analytics, sensors and automation to “scale the Sterile Insect Technique.”
Debug’s FAQ page indicates program officials “actively work with organizations like national and local governments, community leaders and research institutes” and spend time with members of the communities where they plan on doing work before the work begins so that scientists “understand local concerns and considerations.”
On that note, Google is currently seeking federal approval for the project to proceed in both California and Florida.
A notice from the Federal Register shows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing Google’s Experimental Use Permit applications under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act and provided more details on the proposal, stating that in the first year of the project, up to 16 million mosquitoes would be released in Florida.
The second year of the project would see another 16 million mosquitoes released in California.
The public is invited to learn more and comment on the matter by going to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov and entering the docket identification number EPA-HQ-OPP-2025-3951.
Google has a “How we stop bag bugs” webpage with even more information on how its Debug program works that is accessible here.
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