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World's largest mosquito factory: Inside the pioneering Chinese laboratory that raises 20 MILLION insects every week to combat deadly Zika virus
Welcome to the mosquitoes factory inside the Sun Yat-sen University in the city of Guangzhou, where a team of experts produce 20 million sterilised male insects every week before releasing them to islands to mate with the females.
These male mosquitoes, which are infected with a type of bacteria called wolbachia pipientis, are used as a means for scientists to try and stop the spreading of deadly diseases, such as Zika and Dengue.
By releasing the millions of insects they produce to the different islands in Guangzhou, the team hope their sterilised insects could mate with the female mosquitoes and gradually replace the local mosquitoes population with the disease-free kind.
Helmed by Xi Zhikang, director of the Sun Yat-sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Diseases, the laboratory spreads over 37,700 square feet and has four workshops, each producing up to five million male insects a week, according to Sun Yat-sen University.
First put to use last summer, the laboratory was officially established in April this year with the aim of being the international front-runner in combating mosquitoes-borne diseases.
The lab's mosquitoes are infected with a strain of wolbachia pipientis, a common bacterium shown to inhibit Zika and related viruses including dengue fever.
- The lab at China's Sun Yat-sen University spreads over 37,700 square feet and has four workshops to raise bugs
- Male mosquitoes are given a type of bacteria called wolbachia pipientis which inhibits Zika and Dengue
- These sterilised insects are then released on islands to mate with wild females for them to inherit the antibody
- Experts hopes the technology could make China a global leader in combating mosquitoes-borne diseases
Welcome to the mosquitoes factory inside the Sun Yat-sen University in the city of Guangzhou, where a team of experts produce 20 million sterilised male insects every week before releasing them to islands to mate with the females.
These male mosquitoes, which are infected with a type of bacteria called wolbachia pipientis, are used as a means for scientists to try and stop the spreading of deadly diseases, such as Zika and Dengue.
By releasing the millions of insects they produce to the different islands in Guangzhou, the team hope their sterilised insects could mate with the female mosquitoes and gradually replace the local mosquitoes population with the disease-free kind.
Helmed by Xi Zhikang, director of the Sun Yat-sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Diseases, the laboratory spreads over 37,700 square feet and has four workshops, each producing up to five million male insects a week, according to Sun Yat-sen University.
First put to use last summer, the laboratory was officially established in April this year with the aim of being the international front-runner in combating mosquitoes-borne diseases.
The lab's mosquitoes are infected with a strain of wolbachia pipientis, a common bacterium shown to inhibit Zika and related viruses including dengue fever.