Space Coast releases X-rayed skeeters to take bite out of dengue
Space Coast releases X-rayed skeeters to take bite out of dengue
Tags: Dengue, Mosquitoes, North America, Sterile insect technique (SIT)Jim Waymer, Florida Today, 2026.
The Space Coast has unleashed ‘nuked’ skeeters in a new biological bid to neuter dengue fever. Last year, Brevard saw its first locally caught cases of the tropical disease and wound up with the most in Florida. In response, the county decided to let loose thousands of X-rayed male mosquitoes to zap the insect’s next generation. Turns out an adult skeeter can survive X-ray doses more than 10 times what would kill humans. Unlike humans, once mature, most mosquito cells stop dividing, so radiation rushing through has fewer chances to distort most of its DNA. But X-rays will tear up the insect’s reproductive genes enough to render the male mosquito sterile. That’s among the reasons mosquito-control officials assure this time-tested method is safe and environmentally friendly. They emphasize that it’s not anything like the much-more controversial gene modification of mosquitoes used in recent years in the Florida Keys. “When we’re releasing, there’s no voodoo,” said Joe Faella, Brevard’s mosquito control director.
