Mosquitoes to save the summer, this is the bet of this start-up

Thousands of tiger mosquitoes released in the streets of Brive-la-Gaillarde on May 13. Moreover, A disaster scenario? Moreover, No, an experiment to fight against the proliferation of these insects vectors of diseases, such as dengue and chikungunya. However, Every week for six months, it is nearly 400,000 sterile males which will be released in the Corrèze town. Moreover, A total of around 11 million individuals. Similarly,

This amazing operation is orchestrated by Terracis. Meanwhile, a start-up from Montpellier which uses TIS technology, or “technique of the sterile insect”. Nevertheless, The company’s promise: until 80 % less bitesall without any insecticide. Meanwhile,

An effective. Similarly, environmentally friendly method – Mosquitoes save summer, this bet

The TIS process is based on a simple mechanism: males are sterilized by radiation before being released in the wild to mate with the females. Furthermore, mosquitoes save summer, this bet These, which can only mate once in their lives, then lay non -fertilized eggs. Similarly, Mechanically, the populations are thus reduced.

“We decrease populations in areas that we protect with a positive impact on the environment. health, society and the economy,” summarizes the company on its website.

Thanks to subsidies and scholarships granted by the Occitanie and Bpifrance region, Terracis was able to quickly develop its insect farm. “The site is organized in four main rooms. which follow the stages of the life cycle of the mosquito”, explains in the columns of the Gazette du Midi Clélia Olivia, co-founder and president of the start-up.

“First. the larvae culture room, then mosquitoes save summer, this bet the room dedicated to sorting nymphs, in which we separate the females of the males. The third stage takes place in the adult farming room. where we sterilize male mosquitoes by exposing them to X -ray Ionizing radiationsimilar to those used to sterilize sensitive products such as blood intended for transfusions. The last step takes place in the sorting chamber where we are lots of sterile tiger mosquitoes ”.

The fruit of 15 years of research

The TIS method applied to the tiger mosquito is the result of more than 15 years of research: it is Developed since 2009 By the Institute of Research for Development (IRD). its partners in Reunion, a territory where the Tiger mosquito has been proliferating for a long time. It is also there that Clélia Olivia, then a doctoral student, discovered this process.

Arrived in the mosquitoes save summer, this bet south of metropolitan France in 2004. the Tiger mosquito is now present on almost all of the territory: on January 1, 2025, 81 departments out of 96 were colonized. A progression to the north favored by climate change.

If TIS technology will not completely stop the proliferation of mosquito. researchers nevertheless believe that it represents An effective way of struggle. “The work carried out on the TIS in Reunion invites us to consider this technique as a decisive complementary addition to a toolbox which has become essential for the control of mosquitoes responsible for the transmission of pathogens responsible for dengue. chikungunya”, underlines in a press release Dr. Louis Clément Gouagna, medical entomologist at IRD and coordinator of the IRD program in Reunion.

In Brive. where the experiment must continue mosquitoes save summer, this bet until the end of October, the municipality also calls on the inhabitants not to rely solely on this technique and recommends continuing to continue Respect precautionary gestures complementary.