00:00Did you know that the U.S. drops about 14.5 million live flies on Panama every week?
00:05Sounds crazy, but Panama doesn't mind at all.
00:07Moreover, this process creates a kind of barrier that helps protect all of Central and North America.
00:13And it's all because of these parasitic flies known as screwworms.
00:17Female screwworms lay hundreds of eggs directly in the open wounds of animals, and even humans.
00:22Once hatched, the larvae literally feed on live flesh, causing serious infections, pain, and livestock deaths.
00:28To combat this pest, the U.S. developed a unique method called the sterile insect technique.
00:34Male flies are bred in specialized facilities, sterilized with radiation, and then released into the wild.
00:40When female flies mate with these sterile males, they lay eggs that never hatch, quickly reducing the parasite population.
00:47Back in the 60s, the U.S. completely got rid of these flies at home,
00:50and establishing a protective barrier was more cost-effective not along the long border with Mexico,
00:55but at the narrowest part of the continent, the Panama Isthmus, between North and South America.
Comments