Mosquitoes are capable of infecting humans with diseases such as malaria and dengue. But perhaps the scariest infection you can get from a mosquito is the Zika virus. The virus erupted to a global emergency level a few years back, but one Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) is hoping to prevent spreading of this mosquito-borne disease by the use of drones.

The Zika virus has been linked to a birth defect known as microcephaly, which causes a baby’s head to be smaller than average. It was first reported in South America which later implemented travel advisories for pregnant women to prevent the spread. The company, WeRobotics has noted that mosquitoes kill more people per year than any other animal, and they are determined to change that.

WeRobotics is researching on a Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) that involves the release of certain mosquito breeds that are different from the typical mosquitoes you and I are familiar with. The technological approach was funded by USAID in 2016 and has now developed a prototype of a mosquito release drones that will hopefully help prevent the disease from spreading. The mosquitoes released are sterile, non-biting male mosquitoes which produce sterile eggs after mating, hence reducing the local mosquito population, and by extension the disease.

Sterile Insect release mechanism using drones doesn’t come without challenges. Mosquitoes are quite fragile insects and bad release mechanism might injure their wings, legs, and bodies. When this happens, they cannot effectively compete for mates against the healthy non-sterile counterparts, which could be carrying the disease and are already adapted to the local environment. To go around this challenge, WeRobotics tweaked their release mechanism by including a rotating cylinder with slots that release the insects in groups.

Another challenge when working with a release mechanism that involves drones is temperature variation. Researchers had to work out a way of maintaining optimum temperature throughout the flight from takeoff to landing. Apart from keeping them alive, the right temperature allows them to rest and avoid injuring each other during the flight and release. Unless the insects are mildly chilled, they can easily get into a fight with others and you end up losing your package of about 1 million insects in a matter of minutes!

The drones to be used in the project are pretty pricey, considering they cost an average of $5,000 per piece. The NGO is, however, more focused on getting results than the price, given that drones are quite versatile and can get to locations that vehicles can’t easily access. WeRobotics says their prototype drones are ready and they have plans to test release using live mosquitoes and share their results. They hope their results will be a successful way at reducing the spread of Zika and other potentially deadly viruses.