Some people in Africa and India have traditionally burned oil from seeds of the Jatropha curcas shrub in their lamps to keep mosquitoes away. U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists now know why it works so well. Chemist Charles Cantrell analyzed properties of the smoke and identified a number of active compounds that repel insects, including […]
Study Raises Doubts About Malaria-Fighting Bednet Program
Posted August 18th, 2011 at 11:05 am (UTC-5)
A study conducted in Senegal is casting doubt on the effectiveness of bednets treated to fight malaria. The research suggests that malaria-transmitting mosquitoes quickly build up resistance to the insecticide used to coat the nets. In an article published Thursday in a British journal The Lancet Dr. Jean-Francois Trape of the Development Research Institute in […]
British Study: Spermless Mosquitoes May be Key to Fighting Malaria
Posted August 8th, 2011 at 10:00 pm (UTC-5)
British scientists say they may have found a way to stop the spread of malaria — create spermless mosquitoes. Researchers at London’s Imperial College say they found that female mosquitoes who mate with genetically altered male mosquitoes that produce no sperm lay unfertilized eggs that have no offspring. The scientists say female mosquitoes mate only […]
