Natural Odors and Development of Mosquito Repellents

Filed in archive Other Biotechnology News on August 26, 2009

Entomologists have identified a new class of odorants - chemical compounds with smells - present in ripening fruit that prevent the CO2-sensitive neurons in the antennae of fruit flies from functioning, thus enabling them to find their way to such foods. Researchers say that these findings may pave the way for developing inexpensive and safe mosquito repellents for combating West Nile virus and other deadly tropical diseases.

"CO2 emitted in human breath is the main attractant for the Culex mosquito to find people, aiding the transmission of these deadly diseases," Ray said. "In our experiments we identified hexanol, and a related odor, butanal, as strong inhibitors of CO2-sensitive neurons in Culex mosquitoes. These compounds can now be used to guide research in developing novel repellents and masking agents that are economical and environmentally safe methods to block mosquitoes' ability to detect CO2 in our breath, thereby dramatically reducing mosquito-human contact."

A patent for the discovery ahs already been applied. Watch this video for more info: