Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:56:2
David Goodhue - AHN Reporter
New Haven, CT, United States (AHN) - Yale University scientists have made recent discoveries that may lead to better mosquito repellants and traps, which could help combat deadly malaria cases worldwide.
The researchers said they have found more than 24 scent receptors in malaria-transmitting mosquitoes that detect compounds in human sweat. By identifying these olfactory receptors, the scientists say an opportunity opened to find new and more effective ways of repelling, confusing and attracting mosquitoes into traps.
Malaria kills about 1 million people a year worldwide. It infects up to 500 million people a year, mostly in the world's tropical regions.
The Yale researchers say it has long been known that mosquitoes are attracted to human scent, but they did not know until recently how the bugs' olfactory systems detect different chemical elements of human odor.
The scientists systematically activated genes in 72 mosquito odor receptors in fruit fly olfactory cells that lacked their own receptors. They recorded strong responses from 27 receptors, and found that most of these receptors responded to chemical compounds found in human sweat.
The scientists said in a statement that they are now screening for compounds that jam these receptors.
The study is published in the Feb. 3 edition of the journal Nature.
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