In Guangzhou, China, millions of mosquitoes are born at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease in the hopes of finding a way to fight Zika. The lab's mosquitos are infected with a strain of Wolbachia pipientis, a bacterium that inhibits Zika and and other viruses by preventing the fertilization of eggs. Researchers at the center release infected mosquitos on Shazai Island to mate with wild females, stopping the next generation. The lab claims there is 99% suppression of the population of Aedes albopictus, or Asia tiger mosquito, the type known to carry Zika virus, after the first year of tests.
The World's Largest Mosquito Factory
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Chinese Phd student and researcher Zhang Dongjing displays a container of sterile adult male mosquitos that are ready to be released in a lab in the Mass Production Facility at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease on June 20, 2016 in Guangzhou, China. #
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Chinese lab technicians use water to separate male and female larvae in the Mass Production Facility at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease on June 21, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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Adult female mosquitos are seen under a microscope at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 21, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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A Chinese woman holds her grandson next to a mosquito net in their house on Shazai Island where the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease is conducting its field release program, on June 22, 2016, near Guangzhou, China. #
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Chinese lab technicians pour mosquito pupa into containers in the Mass Production Facility at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 21, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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Chinese Phd student and researcher Zhang Dongjing checks trays of mosquito larvae in the Mass Production Facility at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 20, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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Chinese residents drive past an Zika virus information poster on Shazai Island where the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease is conducting field trials, on June 21, 2016, near Guangzhou, China. #
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A lab technician wears a mask as she places mosquito pupa into a cage in a lab in the Mass Production Facility at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 20, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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Chinese Phd student and researcher Zhang Dongjing looks at adult mosquitos under a microscope in the lab at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 21, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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A local villager walks to her house backdropped by a coal-fired plant on Shazai Island where the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease is conducting its field release program, on June 23, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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A researcher uses a dropper to put mosquito larvae under a microscope at the field lab where the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease is conducting field trials, on June 21, 2016, near Guangzhou, China. #
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Male and female mosquito larvae are separated in the Mass Production Facility in the lab at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 22, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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Jun Jie stands behind a mosquito net in his family's house on Shazai Island where the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease is conducting its field release program, on June 22, 2016, near Guangzhou, China. #
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Chinese lab technicians organize containers of adult mosquitos to be released in the Mass Production Facility in the lab at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 22, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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A lab technician pours animal blood onto a hot plate to feed to mosquitos in the Mass Production Facility in the lab at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 22, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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Local residents gather at the market on Shazai Island where the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease is conducting its field release program, on June 22, 2016, near Guangzhou, China. #
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A lab technician holds plastic containers of sterile adult male mosquitos that are ready to be released in the Mass Production Facility at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 20, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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Chinese Phd student and researcher Zhang Dongjing checks trays of mosquito larvae in the Mass Production Facility at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 20, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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A lab technician looks at cages of adult male mosquitos used in research at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 20, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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A local villager holds a bag on Shazai Island where the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease is conducting its field release program, on June 22, 2016, near Guangzhou, China. #
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Chinese technicians put pupa into dishes in the lab at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 22, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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A Chinese lab technician uses microinjection equipment to inject wolbachia into mosquito eggs at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 21, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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A local farmer walks in her fields on Shazai Island where the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease is conducting its field release program, on June 22, 2016, near Guangzhou, China. #
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Chinese technicians separate male and female larvae at the Mass Production Facility in the lab at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 22, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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A local fisherman, Chen Shourongon, paddles her boat on Shazai Island where the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease is conducting its field release program, on June 23, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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A lab technician places mosquito pupa into cages in the Mass Production Facility at the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease, on June 20, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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Chinese researcher Gan Renxian rides in a cart as he releases adult mosquitos on Shazai Island where the Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease is conducting its release field program, on June 23, 2016, in Guangzhou, China. #
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