This must have been inspired by Mass Effect :)
(probably the other way around, but what's the fun in that)
The Krogans got punitively infected with the genophage to drastically reduce successful births after their rebellion.
Debug Project
11–20 of 127 posts
Re: Debug Project
#12This project has like 10 years of history behind it right? Originally powered by Verily Life Sciences (inside Alphabet's Google X research div)
Some previous discussion:
We’re trying to stop bad mosquitoes by raising and releasing good ones (2016)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12657034
Google Has a Plan to Eliminate Mosquitoes (2018)
Re: Debug Project
#13This is a Google project?
Re: Debug Project
#14(2017)
Unless there's been some new announcement that I don't obviously see here?
Re: Debug Project
#15Is this safe? I hope it doesn't affect the ecology in worse ways we won't foresee, it has happened before
In the FAQ they discuss how in most of its range this particular species is invasive, feeds almost exclusively on humans, and is not believed to be a major food source for predators.
Re: Debug Project
#16A less high-tech way to reduce mosquitoes in your own back yard is to set up an attractive nesting location, such as a bucket filled with plant cuttings and water with protection from the rain, and putting Bti(Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis) in it. Bti will kill the larvae after they hatch. You can buy Bti pretty easily, usually in a dehydrated form called mosquitoes bits or mosquito dunks. Make sure to remove other potential nesting locations or add Bti to them too.
Re: Debug Project
#17No thanks. I’m very concerned some short term thinking behind a plan to alter the biology of our environment will have various side effects no one anticipated. It has happened many, many times before. Same with geo engineering in general - hard to trust the incentives, competency, and long term side effects.
Re: Debug Project
#18This is a great initiative. HOWEVER, THIS IS NOT NEW. This has already been tried and tested successfully in Singapore. https://www.nea.gov.sg/corporate-functions/resources/researc...
More generally, it's known as the sterile insect technique and you'll find plenty of campaigns with some googling.
Re: Debug Project
#19This is a great initiative. HOWEVER, THIS IS NOT NEW. This has already been tried and tested successfully in Singapore. https://www.nea.gov.sg/corporate-functions/resources/researc...
Seems like you’re referring to the same initiative - https://blog.debug.com/2026/05/debug-expands-in-singapore-bu...
Re: Debug Project
#20The current news:
Google wants to release up to 32M good mosquitoes California and Florida
https://ktla.com/news/google-wants-to-release-up-to-32-milli... (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48351077)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/01/google-pe...
(perhaps one of these should be the submitted link)