Sterile Mosquitoes Released in Guangzhou to Fight Dengue Fever

This spring, a team of scientists released over 500,000 mosquitoes on an island in Guangzhou. Releasing the mosquitos, which were treated with a vaccine to make them sterile, was a move designed to counteract the threat of a Dengue Fever epidemic. Last year there were over 47,000 cases of the illness in China, making it the worst of the last 20 years. Some netizens were happy to hear the news, saying “Whoever can make mosquitoes disappear from the face of the earth will be famous for all eternity.” while others were concerned commenting “I’m a little worried, if there are less mosquitoes, what will happen to the animals that eat mosquitoes? Can doing this mess up the ecological chain?”.

Source: Tencent