New findings hold big promise for fight against mosquito-borne diseases
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 14:30
in Biology & Nature
To find human hosts to bite and spread disease, mosquitoes use exhaled carbon dioxide as a vital cue. Entomologists have identified three classes of volatile odor molecules that can severely impair, if not completely disrupt, the mosquitoes' carbon dioxide detection machinery. The breakthrough research covers three of the deadliest species of mosquitoes: those that spread malaria; dengue and yellow fever; and filariasis and West Nile virus.