Verily was able to get rid of almost all of the mosquitoes in three test sites in California's Central Valley as a part of an experimental program, a paper published in the journal Nature Biotechnology reveals. The project aims to eradicate illnesses spread by mosquitoes, such as dengue fever, Zika virus, and more – conditions that kill tens of thousands of people annually worldwide – by releasing lab-bred Aedes aegypti male mosquitoes infected with a bacterium called Wolbachia, thus affecting the ability to produce offspring. After mating with female mosquitoes, who bite humans, offspring are unable to hatch. In the Central Valley trial, the infected males managed to successfully suppress over 93% of the female mosquito population from July to October 2018, Verily reveals.