Gallery: This Lab Releases Two Million Mosquitoes a Week for Science
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images01Frayer-12.jpg
Lab technicians arrange containers of adult mosquitoes that will soon be released on Shazai Island.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images02Frayer-13.jpg
PhD student and researcher Zhang Dongjing inspects trays of mosquito larvae with a small flashlight.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images03Frayer-10.jpg
A worker places a container of mosquito pupae into a cage for study.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images04Frayer-02.jpg
A lab worker holds a container of pupae that will soon be transferred to larger tubs.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images05Frayer-14.jpg
A researcher uses a dropper to place mosquito larvae under a microscope for study.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images06Frayer-06.jpg
When the project first began in 2012, scientists injected Wolbachia—known to cause reproductive problems in some bugs—into the wild eggs of Aedes Albopictus mosquitoes. Then they screened the survivors to find a female that could pass it on to her offspring and used her to breed an infected population. "All the mosquitoes we release were descended from that single mosquito," says director Zhiyong Xi.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images07Frayer-05.jpg
Professor Xi Zhiyong directs the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease. He's standing in the Mass Production Facility, where millions of mosquitoes are bred and raised.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images08Frayer-03.jpg
A lab worker scoops pupae into larger tubs, where they will grow until they reach maturity.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images09Frayer-07.jpg
A lab worker shines a flashlight into a tray filled with mosquito larvae.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images10Frayer-08.jpg
A technician warms animal blood on a hot plate to feed the mosquitoes.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images11Frayer-04.jpg
Lab technicians use water to separate male and female larvae in the Mass Production Facility. The female larvae are easy to identify because they are larger than the males. They are thrown away, while the males are raised to adulthood.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images12Frayer-15.jpg
Mosquitoes occasionally get loose at the lab, so technicians keep an electric zapping racket on hand.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images13Frayer-09.jpg
A worker places containers of pupae into a cage for study.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images14Frayer-01.jpg
Gan Renxian releases adult male mosquitoes on Shazai Island, a site chosen for its relative isolation. The males will mate with and infect wild females.
