New Insect Repellant May Be Thousands of Times Stronger Than DEET

[n2doc]

ScienceDaily (May 9, 2011) — Imagine an insect repellant that not only is thousands of times more effective than DEET -- the active ingredient in most commercial mosquito repellants -- but also works against all types of insects, including flies, moths and ants.

That possibility has been created by the discovery of a new class of insect repellant made in the laboratory of Vanderbilt Professor of Biological Sciences and Pharmacology Laurence Zwiebel and reported this week in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"It wasn't something we set out to find," said David Rinker, a graduate student who performed the study in collaboration with graduate student Gregory Pask and post-doctoral fellow Patrick Jones. "It was an anomaly that we noticed in our tests."

The tests were conducted as part of a major interdisciplinary research project to develop new ways to control the spread of malaria by disrupting a mosquito's sense of smell supported by the Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative funded by the Foundation for the NIH through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

"It's too soon to determine whether this specific compound can act as the basis of a commercial product," Zwiebel cautioned. "But it is the first of its kind and, as such, can be used to develop other similar compounds that have characteristics appropriate for commercialization."

more

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110509151244.htm

[ejpoeta]

1. boy would that be great!! i live in a swampy area and we have special mosquitoes.

the kind that considers any repellent short of deep woods off to be like putting butter on a dinner roll.

[elfin]

2. My favorite science site

I check it every day -- today sent along its article about parsley and other foods' possible link to suppress breast cancer return to my breast cancer survivor friends and relatives.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110509122732.htm

[blm]

3. I saw a program recently that said CATNIP is a natural repellant that equals DEET.

.

[n2doc]

4. But then you get swarmed by cats! n/t

[pansypoo53219]

5. we have nip all over our yard. and it is the BEST nip.

we have strays once in a while, but no swarms. just very happy cats. and if you contact me i can sell you some cheap. this years spring growth looks potent. my previous female LOVED it, but she got high on parsley + fever-few too. the new ones can't take it green much. think they have bad trips.

[Robb]

6. Worldwide malaria deaths are staggering. Mostly children.

I hope this can help.

[qazplm]

7. might also help

with the growing bedbug infestations.