Valuetainment - June 02, 2026


ā€œTens Of TRILLIONS Of Mosquitosā€ - Google UNLEASHES Lab-Bred Bugs To ā€˜Combat Diseaseā€™


Episode Stats


Length

13 minutes

Words per minute

181.25568

Word count

2,529

Sentence count

211

Harmful content

Misogyny

13

sentences flagged

Toxicity

5

sentences flagged

Hate speech

10

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Google wants to release millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in California and Florida to fight a mosquito-borne disease called West Nile Virus. What does this have to do with the lasagna? And why should we be worried about it?

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.760 Rosen lasagna, medium power, 15 minutes.
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00:00:30.000 Apparently, Google is planning on releasing mosquitoes.
00:00:33.380 Great.
00:00:33.920 Okay?
00:00:34.580 What do you mean mosquitoes?
00:00:35.940 They want to release millions of mosquitoes into California to help stop diseases.
00:00:41.160 What's the disease?
00:00:42.260 What do you want to do?
00:00:43.580 No, they want to release mosquitoes.
00:00:44.540 Guys, this is not a spoof of a story.
00:00:48.640 This is a real story that we're talking about.
00:00:50.060 Correct, and they want to do it here in the state of Florida as well.
00:00:52.060 Yeah, well, that's where it's going to be a problem when you're doing something like that.
00:00:56.040 But Google planning to release mosquitoes, a tech giant, is seeking federal approval to release.
00:01:02.580 You ready for this, folks?
00:01:04.100 32 million specially treated mosquitoes in California and Florida over the next two years as part of an effort to reduce the spread of mosquito-borne disease, including West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis, and then a bunch of other viruses that I'm not going to read.
00:01:21.800 The proposal is currently under review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is accepting public comments through June 5th before deciding whether to issue an experimental permit.
00:01:33.260 Rob, can we see what these mosquitoes look like that they're talking about?
00:01:36.160 On Friday, a positive sample of West Nile virus was confirmed in Riverside County.
00:01:40.580 The project is part of Google's little-known debug initiative launched more than a decade ago to develop new technologies aimed at reducing populations of disease-carrying mosquitoes rather than releasing biting insects.
00:01:54.260 The company plans to release male mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia, a naturally occurring bacteria.
00:02:01.160 Is that what the mosquitoes look like?
00:02:02.540 It's got its eyebrows.
00:02:03.580 Rob, is that it?
00:02:04.700 Yes, this is from the CDC.
00:02:06.920 How long does it take to make each of these mosquitoes?
00:02:09.100 Do we know?
00:02:10.580 How long does it take to make these mosquitoes?
00:02:12.580 What is the cost of each mosquito?
00:02:14.840 So one of them is a self-limiting gene that prevents female mosquitoes' offspring from surviving to adulthood.
00:02:20.520 Another one is a fluorescent marker gene that glows under a special red light that allows researchers to identify GM mosquitoes in the wild.
00:02:30.280 GM mosquitoes produced in a lab lay eggs, which carry the self-limiting and fluorescent marker used for mosquito control.
00:02:38.480 Well, when the egg hatch, they develop into adult mosquitoes.
00:02:41.480 These mosquitoes mate with wild females.
00:02:43.920 Makes sense.
00:02:44.820 The genes are passed on to offspring.
00:02:47.500 The expected result of using GM mosquitoes is that number of AE mosquitoes in that area decreases.
00:02:54.860 It's pretty wild.
00:02:55.560 Did you know that only female mosquitoes bite? 1.00
00:02:57.720 They need a blood meal to produce eggs. 0.99
00:02:59.620 Male mosquitoes do not bite. 0.93
00:03:01.200 Typical.
00:03:01.700 They feed on nectar from flowers.
00:03:04.200 Tom, your thoughts on this.
00:03:05.480 Does this concern you at all?
00:03:07.300 Yes, because you know what? 0.97
00:03:08.280 I find this to be ridiculous. 0.98
00:03:09.700 You know, I find this to be ridiculous.
00:03:10.740 I don't trust it because California and Florida do have something in common, and that is massive agriculture crops.
00:03:17.760 You know, there are grapefruit and oranges, and it's called Orange County around Orlando for a reason,
00:03:23.780 and it was called Orange County in Southern California for a reason.
00:03:27.340 So check this out, Pat.
00:03:29.820 Fruit flies can be a problem.
00:03:31.440 They can infest orange groves, grapefruits, lemons.
00:03:36.440 You saw all the lemons.
00:03:37.640 We used to drive up through Ventura County toward Santa Barbara, and you could see lemon groves, all this stuff.
00:03:46.240 Well, check this out.
00:03:46.860 Fruit flies became a problem, and scientists came up and said, hey, you know what we could do? 0.99
00:03:51.380 We could breed a bunch of sterile males.
00:03:55.140 We can breed a bunch of fruit flies.
00:03:57.980 We'll sterilize the male with chemical or radiation or something.
00:04:01.160 We'll have some various techniques.
00:04:02.840 And then we'll release them out into the wild. 1.00
00:04:04.580 and then they'll mate with the females 0.99
00:04:07.160 and the females won't get pregnant 1.00
00:04:08.620 and there'll be no more fruit flies 0.99
00:04:10.420 and it will cause it.
00:04:12.220 They spent millions and millions,
00:04:14.260 I think even billions of dollars on it.
00:04:16.720 And guess what happened?
00:04:18.300 The neutered male fruit flies were less strong
00:04:22.280 and they didn't fly as well.
00:04:24.900 And sometimes they would mate with the female
00:04:27.640 and then she would turn around
00:04:29.220 and then mate with a wild male fruit fly 1.00
00:04:32.060 and get pregnant anyway. 0.97
00:04:34.580 That's what was happening.
00:04:35.860 I don't trust these programs.
00:04:37.300 And by the way, there's a hysterical University of Nebraska study that goes back like 2010, 2012.
00:04:42.840 But it basically said, guys, sterilizing the fruit flies and sending them out may not even work.
00:04:48.660 As a matter of fact, you may have the same size problem that you did because the sterile males, you know, flew weakly.
00:04:58.000 And by the way, guess what?
00:04:58.940 The females in the wild tended to prefer the males that were in the wild, not the sterilized, weak-flying, sterile fruit flies.
00:05:10.060 And I thought this was hysterical.
00:05:11.720 Yeah, by the way, they tested this.
00:05:12.560 It's just like, here we go again.
00:05:14.200 They did this in 2017.
00:05:15.440 Google did this, actually.
00:05:17.200 Google's life sciences unit is releasing 20 million bacterias in Fresno.
00:05:23.220 Infected mosquitoes in Fresno.
00:05:24.580 Verily, the life science armor, Google parent company, Alphabet, has hatched a plan to release 20 million lab-made bacteria-infected mosquitoes in Fresno, and that's a good thing.
00:05:33.120 You see the Zika carrying Aedes aegyptus mosquitoes prevalent in the area.
00:05:37.920 Earlier this year, a woman contracted with the first case of Zika in Fresno through sexual contact with a partner who has been traveling.
00:05:44.660 Now there's a fear of inevitable mosquito meets patient if we don't do something about it.
00:05:49.080 Verily plans called a debug project, hopes to now wipe out.
00:05:52.180 But, I mean, you know, there's certain industries you go in that, first of all, even, by the way, let's just say a noble person was running that company.
00:06:00.820 Okay.
00:06:01.880 Alphabet?
00:06:02.940 No, no. 0.68
00:06:03.320 Let's say a noble person is trying to release these mosquitoes.
00:06:06.120 Take somebody you trust, and they're running a company.
00:06:08.080 Okay.
00:06:09.540 Is there any winning in this business?
00:06:11.680 People ask you, what do you do for a living?
00:06:13.060 We release mosquitoes.
00:06:15.360 Wait, wait.
00:06:16.020 What kind of mosquitoes?
00:06:16.880 Yeah, in 2017, we released $20 million in Fresno, and we're thinking about doing $32 million.
00:06:21.180 But we're good people.
00:06:21.780 or church going, how hard of a job it is to do.
00:06:25.680 Dude, you ruined my summer.
00:06:27.200 My backyard was terrible.
00:06:28.740 By the way, to give you some context,
00:06:32.660 do you know how much 32 million mosquitoes are?
00:06:34.880 Not a lot.
00:06:35.980 Rob, how many total mosquitoes are there in America?
00:06:37.980 I'm sure somebody counted them one by one by one.
00:06:40.260 Two billion.
00:06:41.020 Yeah, yeah.
00:06:41.460 No, no, no. 1.00
00:06:42.120 And separate them by citizens and illegals.
00:06:44.820 Tens of trillions? 0.92
00:06:45.620 That's the number. 0.96
00:06:46.860 Tens of trillions of mosquitoes.
00:06:48.940 32 million mosquitoes is like the poor 22,000 cops in France 1.00
00:06:53.100 trying to prevent all the immigrants in France 1.00
00:06:55.660 of destroying the city with 780 arrests. 0.99
00:06:58.160 32 million mosquitoes is nothing.
00:07:00.020 Tens of trillions.
00:07:00.660 Tens of trillions of mosquitoes just in North America alone.
00:07:05.480 By the way, added to a tens of trillion,
00:07:07.800 nine of them are in Fort Lauderdale.
00:07:09.340 I don't know if you know that or not.
00:07:10.340 During summer, they show up when it rains.
00:07:11.960 Adam, your thoughts on this?
00:07:13.100 Exactly.
00:07:13.320 Because they want to release this in California and Florida.
00:07:16.060 Yeah.
00:07:16.280 Like 62%.
00:07:17.140 I just want to know one question.
00:07:18.420 Do local communities get to vote on this, or do they just get to release mosquitoes when they feel like it?
00:07:24.080 It kind of reminds me of one of those things that's like you only stop a bad guy with a gun with a good guy with a gun. 0.62
00:07:28.960 It's like you only stop an encephalitis mosquito with a non-male binary mosquito that basically takes down the queen mosquito. 0.86
00:07:37.960 Everyone should be skeptical, but at the same time, we should understand, I assume they know what they're doing. 0.99
00:07:42.800 You're going to assume?
00:07:44.500 I don't, listen, I don't know about you, but the past few years, people don't blame me.
00:07:48.220 That's a good question, though. Did the people of the city have to vote for it?
00:07:51.320 I think they are.
00:07:52.280 I asked, did people in Fresno have to vote for it? It says no.
00:07:55.700 The residents of Fresno did not vote for the Mosquito Project.
00:07:58.680 The program was handled through a combination of regulatory approvals, local mosquito control district, public comment period, and environmental and health reviews.
00:08:08.600 It was not placed on a statewide ballot for Fresno voters.
00:08:12.520 Verily worked with local mosquito control authorities and state federal regulators to conduct a release.
00:08:17.220 Public meetings and common opportunities were held,
00:08:19.720 but there was no referendum requiring majority voter approval.
00:08:23.580 That's interesting.
00:08:25.400 Yeah, you would want the people that are living there at least to have a say,
00:08:28.860 like at school board meetings and be like, hey, I'm not cool with what you guys are doing.
00:08:32.740 You guys are putting these books in the library.
00:08:34.100 They get to go and voice their opinion and push back.
00:08:37.880 Yeah, so the critics were saying exactly what you said.
00:08:40.260 Critics said the residents should have a direct vote.
00:08:42.780 Releasing millions of mosquitoes affected by a broader community,
00:08:45.000 but we should have something to say.
00:08:46.580 Large-scale biological interventions should require stronger public consent.
00:08:51.600 Man, I don't know.
00:08:52.420 This is the direction we're going.
00:08:54.940 Well, have we not learned in the past couple of years
00:08:57.120 just blindly trusting these giant corporations and billionaires?
00:09:00.940 They're playing scientists.
00:09:01.920 We just talked about Bill Gates recently.
00:09:03.860 This is Google.
00:09:05.560 Google and this is Alphabet, right?
00:09:07.700 This is a parent company.
00:09:09.000 Let me tell you what's coming.
00:09:09.940 Oh, man.
00:09:10.420 Let me tell you what's coming.
00:09:11.440 What?
00:09:11.800 Can we play imagination game real quick?
00:09:13.960 You ready?
00:09:14.280 Okay, so check this out.
00:09:16.500 What is the likelihood that if it already exists, it could already exist,
00:09:21.220 what is the likelihood in the next 5, 10 years there's going to be mosquito drones this small
00:09:27.320 that they'll fly into the negotiation room and just sit there?
00:09:32.420 I'd love to be a fly on the wall.
00:09:35.460 Well, that's exactly what they're going to do.
00:09:37.360 military mosquito-sized drones to go and track anything and everything that's being said and
00:09:45.680 leak the information i wouldn't put if they're not already in the late stages or they don't have one
00:09:51.100 they'd be very very dumb like i'm pretty sure that they're almost there do you remember in
00:09:56.120 you could never tell anybody about it is that it rob look at that guy look at that guy what does 0.99
00:10:00.800 this drone do tiny quiet enough to be called mosquito drone black hornet what does it do rob
00:10:05.840 I corn it.
00:10:06.660 Oh, okay.
00:10:07.120 Can you play it?
00:10:07.920 Actually, play it.
00:10:08.400 Let's listen to the audio.
00:10:09.580 Yeah, for sure this is coming.
00:10:12.620 Maybe the music we can't play.
00:10:14.280 Yeah.
00:10:15.040 So it has the camera in there.
00:10:16.540 Look at the camera the way it comes out.
00:10:18.540 Boom.
00:10:19.480 It's like the mosquito is dangling, but it's the camera that comes out,
00:10:21.980 and then it records.
00:10:24.380 I wouldn't put it past.
00:10:25.380 Flight computer, you can make it so flippant small that it's not even detectable.
00:10:33.780 Data extractor, Vinny, it goes in the computer and extracts.
00:10:37.960 Like, you ever seen the Transformers 1?
00:10:40.060 Yeah, of course.
00:10:40.360 Well, the thing is in the purse, and it's trying to find Wikwiki's glasses.
00:10:43.440 Yeah, yeah.
00:10:44.840 Wikwiki's?
00:10:45.240 Yeah, Wikwiki's glasses.
00:10:47.220 Do you remember in the Fifth Element, the guy had a control, a cockroach had, like, things on its head. 0.91
00:10:53.460 Well, Pat, the freaking sharks have laser beams.
00:10:56.040 What's the term they use when you have something in a room, recording devices? 0.97
00:11:01.800 It's called bugged.
00:11:03.220 There you go right there
00:11:05.580 By the way, you remember when you caught my
00:11:07.320 Mossad mosquito?
00:11:08.980 Yeah
00:11:09.200 I'm replacing that as we speak
00:11:11.560 I'm replacing that as we speak
00:11:13.260 But by the way, do you not think for a second
00:11:15.900 Intel agencies are right now working on
00:11:18.020 Mosquito-sized cameras
00:11:19.100 It's already done
00:11:19.760 For sure
00:11:20.760 Because pagers are big
00:11:25.860 Mosquitoes are not
00:11:26.660 Imagine 5,000 mosquitoes
00:11:29.940 Going to boom, boom, boom
00:11:31.340 And it just pops and it bites you
00:11:32.980 And by the way, even worse, there's some really nasty areas you can go.
00:11:37.240 Imagine mosquitoes that can release viruses.
00:11:40.520 The way you can get rid of 50% of a nation, they just fly.
00:11:44.820 No, literally. 0.51
00:11:45.480 I know.
00:11:46.120 You drop them, they go.
00:11:48.180 It's like on a mission.
00:11:49.620 Release 100 mosquitoes into an area.
00:11:52.200 Next thing you know, half the population is gone.
00:11:55.480 It used to be frogs they used to focus on.
00:11:58.080 And frogs would become, you know, it's a different situation.
00:12:00.740 But anyways, I don't know.
00:12:02.620 Well, these mosquitoes I don't trust.
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