Guangzhou Wolbaki Biotech Co., Ltd. is a high-tech enterprise committing to the biocontrol of insect pests, with a focus on developing the insect symbiotic bacterium Wolbachia into a series of microbial pesticides for suppressing mosquito populations, blocking the transmission of human pathogens in mosquitoes, and controlling agricultural pests. Professor Zhiyong Xi, chairman of the board of directors, is the inventor of the technology that enables mosquitoes to successfully form a new symbiotic relationship with Wolbachia through embryonic microinjection. Professor Xi and his team are the first to develop stable maternally inherited Wolbachia infections in Aedes, Anopheles and Hemipteran insects, opening a new chapter in using Wolbachia to control the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases, including dengue, Zika and malaria, and agriculturally important insect pests through either population suppression, population replacement or their hybrid technologies. Their prospect in disease and pest control has been demonstrated in both the laboratory and field studies, with the results published in the top scientific journals (Xi, et al. Science, 2005; Bian, et al. Science, 2013; Zheng, et al. Nature, 2019; Gong, et al. Current Biology, 2020).

After nearly ten-year efforts, Wolbaki has made remarkable achievements in research and development for translation of Wolbachia technology into an implementation tool for use in the real world. In 2019, the international consortium led by Professor Xi completed four-year field trial in two Guangzhou islands, through the largest mosquito release (~ 200 millions males) in history, demonstrating mosquito populations can be eliminated by release of Wolbachia-infected males to induce sterile or incompatible matings, with the results published in Nature. Wolbaki mosquito factory produces all the mosquitoes for this trial, making it develop to the world’s largest mosquito factory. Now the factory has the capacity to weekly produce 60 million males for mosquito control, thank to a number of key breakthroughs Wolbaki has made, including the world’s first X-ray irradiator for steriling mosquitoes, the world’s first automatic mosquito pupae sex sorter and mosquito larvae mass-rearing unit enabling to rear 1 million larvae in about 1 square meter floor space. The above progress has been widely reported by hundreds of domestic and international media, including Xinhua, China Daily, New York Times, Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, Guardian, and Washington Post.

Wolbaki would remain dedicated to the mission of developing Wolbachia as effective, environmentally friendly and cost-effective green technology to protect human and animal health and food safety.