California and Florida
If approved, the project would unfold over two years with checkpoints along the way. California and Florida were chosen in part because both states experience seasonal mosquito pressures that can lead to outbreaks. Data collected during the trial would inform whether the method merits wider use.
I'm not sure we're going to like what evolves to replace mosquitos and the upstream and downstream food chain. In all likelihood, their disease spreading is moderating populations of other mammals and, certainly, they are a food source for other creatures.
Yeah, history does not speak kindly of human intervention at large scale in natural habitats...
It's amazing that people look at all the failed experiments of ecosystem alteration through biologic vectors and think: "This time is gonna be different."
Also, very little info about what is actually different about the mosquitoes they are going to release.
This works, too.
I read about some other plans where they bred mosquitos with a germ line mutation causing infertility. I suspect this is like that.
Because the mutants can't breed and pass on the mutation, it should merely decrease the population in proportion to the mutant population. The hope, I think, is they impair a population's breeding cycle just enough to reduce it temporarily (much like insecticides).
Mosquitos are the number one killer of people, and West Nile Virus which they can carry is no laughing matter or conspiracy disease; it will F you up. Treated bugs to stop or lessen vector problems is a well-known solution. It's been used for many years in SoCal with MedFly eradication, basically releasing neutered flies which break the procreation cycle and the populations die off quickly.