Verily seeks EPA permit to release 32 million Wolbachia mosquitoes in Florida and California
Florida and California residents have until 5 June to comment on a federal application to release 32 million male mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia bacteria. Alphabet $GOOGL subsidiary Verily filed under EPA docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2025-3951 targeting Culex, the West Nile vector.
Anyone living in mosquito-control districts in Florida or California has four days left to file a public comment on one of the largest biotech mosquito releases ever proposed in the United States. Alphabet $GOOGL subsidiary Verily Life Sciences, operator of the decade-old Debug program, has filed an application with the Environmental Protection Agency seeking permission to release up to 32 million male mosquitoes across the two states over a two-year period. The insects would be infected with Wolbachia pipientis, a naturally occurring bacterium that prevents fertilized eggs from hatching when an infected male mates with a wild female. Females do not bite or transmit disease, so the released males pose no risk to humans. This time the target is Culex quinquefasciatus, the southern house mosquito and the primary vector of West Nile virus and St Louis encephalitis in the United States. Earlier Debug trials concentrated on Aedes aegypti, the species responsible for dengue, Zika and yellow fever, and have so far released over one billion mosquitoes across four continents. The application is filed under EPA docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2025-3951 on the federal eRulemaking portal at regulations.gov. The public comment window closes on 5 June 2026, after which the EPA will decide whether to grant an experimental use permit.