Countries all over the world are trying to make efforts in order to get rid of chemicals thus many prefer to use Deet free repellent in Australia because it is free of harmful ingredients. The same efforts were made by former president Barack Obama when he signed the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 back in 2016. With the law, the government is given the authority to regulate the toxic chemicals used in the chemical sector.
In order to avoid using chemicals to combat mosquito, the federal government has given the go signal for the creation of assassin mosquitoes. The breed is bio-engineered in order to help eliminate wild mosquitoes that are the medium of deadly diseases such as Dengue fever, Zika and yellow fever. Nature, a science journal, explained that these killer mosquitoes will prevent reproduction.
The startup behind the research is MosquitoMate with headquarters in Lexington, Ky. The technology helps inject Wolbachiapipientis, a common and natural bacterium, into the male mosquitoes. While it targets the reproduction system of the insect, it will cause no harm to other living things. The aim is to eliminate the current population of wild Asian tiger mosquitoes which are responsible for carrying deadly diseases.
The male mosquitoes of Asian tiger breed which don’t bite are grown inside the laboratory. They will be injected into the wild to mate with female mosquitoes thus preventing the fertilized eggs from hatching. Eventually, the hope of the team is to stop the population of the breed from growing.
No formal announcement has been made by EPA but according to MosquitoMate the release will be happening in 20 states including Washington D.C. This is scheduled for the coming summer season. Release in southeastern states will not be possible because MosquitoMatewas not previously tested there. The states there are suffering from high number of mosquitoes and the season of mosquito breeding is longer compared to other states.
Once they have successfully tested at Florida Keys, the company is hoping to get approval to release in all states. It might also reach other countries but for the meantime, Deet free repellent in Australia should be used in place of chemical spray.