Google plans to Debug two states with millions of mosquitoes. See how

Google is seeking the EPA’s permission to release 64 million sterilized male mosquitoes in California and Florida over two years to reduce the southern house mosquito population and limit the spread of disease.

Google’s Debug initative is targeting the species Culex quinquefasciatus. It’s associated with the spread of St. Louis encephalitis and West Nile virus, which sickens more than 1,300 people in the United States every year.

Fighting mosquitoes with more mosquitoes may seem illogical, but it works. Male mosquitoes don’t bite humans, which means they can’t spread disease the way biting female mosquitoes do.

The male mosquitoes are treated with a common type of bacteria called Wolbachia, which makes them unable to reproduce. If they mate with females that don’t have Wolbachia, the eggs won’t hatch. That means fewer mosquitoes.