Robustness of Wolbachia-mediated incompatible-insect technique to future climate change scenarios
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Wolbachia -mediated incompatible-insect technique (IIT) via wAlbB, wMel or w Pip/ w AlbA/ w AlbB strains are promising approaches for suppressing wildtype Aedes mosquitoes and therefore Aedes -borne diseases. Yet, the effectiveness of this technique under climate change remains uncertain. Here, we evaluate the long-term robustness of male Wolbachia -infected mosquito releases to suppress wildtype Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus populations across future climate scenarios across diverse geographical regions. We compiled large publicly available datasets on Aedes abundance across Singapore, China, the European Union and the United States, historical and projected climatic conditions in these regions and conducted experiments to test the thermal stability of cytoplasmic incompatibility in Wolbachia -infected male Aedes aegypti and albopictus . A climatically-driven entomological model was developed and calibrated using a Bayesian approach to model observed Aedes population dynamics and infer area-specific climate-driven variation in mosquito life-history traits. We back-inferred historical mosquito abundance and projected mosquito abundance in future climate change scenarios incorporating experimental and locally inferred entomological parameters and then simulated the counterfactual implementation of IIT in these regions. We find that Aedes populations are projected to increase in most regions across all climate change scenarios from 2050–2100 even under high heat conditions in the absence of interventions. While we found that IIT can suppress wild-type populations effectively across all future scenarios and in high heat conditions, effectiveness was found to depend heavily on mosquito emigration rates, overflooding ratios, release intervals and release strategies Extensive robustness checks confirmed that the model reproduced historical temporal trends, captured the influence of individual parameters on outcome and was sensitive to changes in values of inferred parameters and implement policy. These findings demonstrate that IIT may be a robust vector control tool under future climate conditions.
Research in context
Evidence before this study
Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) is a promising strategy for vector control. IIT involves the release of male mosquitoes infected with the Wolbachia bacterium; when these males mate with wild females without Wolbachia or infected with a different strain, cytoplasmic incompatibility yields non-viable offspring, thereby suppressing mosquito populations and reducing dengue transmission. We searched Embase, MEDLINE, Global Health, and PubMed for publications between database inception and Dec 1, 2025, with the search terms capturing the type of intervention (((“ Wolbachia ”) OR (“incompatible insect technique”)) and (“intervention”)) and (“climate change”)) as well as the type of outcome (“ Aegypti ”) of interest for our study. We also contacted key field experts for relevant articles. The search returned 26 articles. 1 study evaluated the robustness of Wolbachia replacement in future heat scenarios. No study has ascertained the long-term robustness of Wolbachia -mediated IIT deployments in the context of climate change.
Added value of this study
This study ascertains the long-term viability of Wolbachia -IIT via wAlbB, wMel or w Pip/ w AlbA/ w AlbB strains to suppress mosquito populations under future climate change scenarios. Our approach advances the field by providing first-of-its-kind evidence that IIT can be a highly effective climate-resilient, and sustainable Aedes -control tool with global applicability.
Implications of all the available evidence
Our findings demonstrate strong evidence that IIT can be a robust vector control tool under future climate conditions in the European Union, United States, China and Singapore. Policy makers can consider Wolbachia -mediated IIT as a strong tool to combat Aedes -borne diseases with long-term efficacy.
