Radiating South

Abstract From the 1960s to the 1990s, the US Department of Agriculture led a campaign across North America to eradicate a notorious livestock pest known as the screwworm. It did so by breeding flies in factories, sterilizing them with radiation, and scattering them from the air. Based on original multisite archival research, this article examines the overlooked role of Mexico in what was a flagship application of the “sterile male technique.” It argues that three main factors shaped this role: Mexico's long-term projects of agricultural and atomic modernization; diplomatic leverage provided by a shared border; and an earlier tradition of bilateral cooperation and conflict over animal disease that stretched back to the 1940s. The analysis deepens our understanding of how Mexico shaped science and agriculture at home and abroad. It also helps explain why this particular project of atomic agriculture succeeded on the scale it did.