How a Tiny Bacterium Called Wolbachia Could Defeat Dengue

Scientists are immunizing mosquitoes against disease with the help of a common microbe

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The best time of day to release mosquitoes in northern Australia is midmorning. Later in the day, winds might sweep the insects away and dash any hope that they will find a mate. Earlier than that, the workers who drive around and release containers full of mosquitoes would have to get overtime pay. And so, on a sweltering January morning at the height of the Australian summer, I climbed into my white van with thousands of mosquitoes stowed in Tupperware cups on the backseat.

Once a week, for about three months in 2011, we made trips like this to release mosquitoes. We concentrated on two communities in the city of Cairns, a popular tourism spot near the Great Barrier Reef. At every fourth house, where residents had agreed to participate in our study, we would grab a cup of mosquitoes from the van, peel off the lid, and set 50 or so insects free.

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