Issues with combining incompatible and sterile insect techniques

In a recent paper, Zheng at al.1 performed field experiments that tested a strategy of mosquito suppression based on the release of functionally sterile males produced by the combination of reproductive unidirectional cytoplasmic incompatibility (which is induced by the bacterium Wolbachia) and a sterilization treatment caused by X-rays. In our opinion, the authors do not present an exhaustive description of the current status in this field, and their results highlight several practical weaknesses in this strategy.