A group of scientists at the University of California Riverside have announced the discovery of ethyl pyruvate, an agent that could be used to develop a more effective and less expensive mosquito repellents.
Mosquitoes are the vector of the parasite that causes malaria. According to the researchers, mosquitoes use similar receptors like man’s to detect carbon dioxide; the same receptors are also used by the mosquitoes to detect odours when they come in contact with the human skin.
The team tested more than one million agents until they found ethyl pyruvate which was able to shut down the receptor in mosquitoes.
“When we apply Ethyl pyruvate to a human arm and offer it to hungry mosquitoes in a cage, then very few of the mosquitoes are attracted to the human arm because only a few of them are able to smell it out,” said lead investigator, Anandasankar Ray.
Another member of the team, Genevieve Tauxe said it was difficult to find the mosquito neurons that detect both our breath and skin odor was not easy.
“With this apparatus, we are able to insert a very small electrode into the part of the mosquito’s nose, effectively, where its olfactory neurons are and where the smell is happening,” Tauxe said.
According to Ray, a repellent that is based on ethyl pyruvate may be cheaper to manufacture than DEET, the most effective chemical now in use. He says it’s too expensive for most people in malaria-affected areas.
He said: “Perhaps by finding designer odors, better odors that can attack other target receptors, we will be able to improve upon DEET and finally have the next generation of insect behavior control product.”
With the discovery, they said they will soon be able to find a way to manufacture cheaper and more effective repellents for the fight against mosquitoes.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sub-Sahara African countries including Nigeria are the worst hit by malaria. In 2012 alone, about 630,000 people died from the disease, a large number of those killed by the disease are children below the age of 5 years.