--- description: Find out why Luciano Moreira is on the TIME100 Health 2026 list. title: TIME100 Health: Luciano Moreira image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfffbb80c0bb50937/6998ce4793610c4d05c30776/T100-Health-2026-Moreira.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Feb 11, 2026 # Luciano Moreira Protecting people from mosquito-borne disease by [Veronique Greenwood](/author/veronique-greenwood/) ## Veronique Greenwood Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Rodolfo Buhrer—Reuters In July 2025, Wolbito do Brasil, a joint venture of the World Mosquito Program and partners headed by CEO Luciano Moreira, opened the world’s largest mosquito biofactory in Curitiba, Brazil, to help stop the insects from spreading illnesses like [dengue](https://time.com/6998072/dengue-mosquitoes-how-to-protect-yourself/ "undefined") and [Zika](https://time.com/4318624/zika-virus-and-birth-defects-what-you-need-to-know/ "undefined"). Wolbito-bred _Aedes aegypti_ [mosquitoes](https://time.com/6989548/mosquitoes-attracted-to-scents-colors-research/ "undefined") are exposed to the naturally occurring bacterium _Wolbachia_, which inhibits the host’s ability to spread disease. The bacterium is maternally transmitted to offspring, and when released into the environment, the _Wolbachia_\-treated mosquitoes breed generations of mosquitos unable to spread disease. The method has so far protected more than 5 million people in 16 cities across Brazil, says Moreira. With the new factory, those numbers will go up radically. “The biggest facility is up and running, with the capacity to produce 100 million eggs per week,” says Moreira. “This protects 14 million people every year.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2026/7362466/luciano-moreira/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2026/7362466/luciano-moreira/"},"headline":"Luciano Moreira","datePublished":"2026-02-11T13:01:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T01:06:22.515Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2026/7362466/luciano-moreira/","keywords":["TIME100 Health 2026","list","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfffbb80c0bb50937/6998ce4793610c4d05c30776/T100-Health-2026-Moreira.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Veronique Greenwood","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/veronique-greenwood/"}],"creator":"Veronique Greenwood","articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfffbb80c0bb50937/6998ce4793610c4d05c30776/T100-Health-2026-Moreira.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time100-health-2026/","name":"TIME100 Health 2026"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2026/7362466/luciano-moreira/","name":"Luciano Moreira"}}]}] ```