https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. If you're outside enjoying the spring sunshine, then chances are, ticks are too. However, new research from Simon Fraser University (SFU) suggests the use of ant pheromones as a topical repellent, or as an environmental barrier, may help protect hikers and campers from the harmful bites of black-legged ticks, which could carry Lyme disease. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-ant-pheromones-hikers-campers.html Ecology Thu, 11 Apr 2024 15:08:03 EDT news632066881 In the age-old battle against mosquitos, DEET has proven effective at keeping this nemesis at bay, but the repellent is smelly and its protection is short-lived. Now, researchers report in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that they have designed safe alternatives that have some advantages over DEET, including a nice smell and much longer protection from bites. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-mosquito-repellents-deet.html Biochemistry Tue, 24 Jan 2023 09:48:03 EST news593776082 Mosquitoes spread several diseases, among them malaria and dengue virus. In 2020, about 241 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide, with a few more million cases occurring in 2021. Nearly half the world's population lives in regions where contracting dengue virus is a risk. Insects also destroy a third of agriculture. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-strategies-insect.html Plants & Animals Mon, 09 Jan 2023 16:11:02 EST news592503057 In what they call surprise findings, Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists report that unlike those in fruit flies, mosquitoes' odor sensing nerve cells shut down when those cells are forced to produce odor-related proteins, or receptors, on the surface of the cell. This "expression" process apparently makes the bugs able to ignore common insect repellants. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-mosquito-odor-sensors-sensitive-molecular.html Plants & Animals Wed, 16 Mar 2022 15:06:05 EDT news566661962 A pair of researchers at the University of California, Riverside, has used machine learning to understand what a chemical smells like—a research breakthrough with potential applications in the food flavor and fragrance industries. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-artificial-intelligence-roses.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 29 Jul 2020 03:16:17 EDT news515211372 Since its invention during the Second World War for soldiers stationed in countries where malaria transmission rates were high, researchers have worked to pinpoint precisely how DEET actually affects mosquitos. Past studies have analyzed the chemical structure of the repellent, studied the response in easier insects to work with, such as fruit flies, and experimented with genetically engineered mosquito scent receptors grown inside frog eggs. However, the Anopheles mosquito's neurological response to DEET and other repellents remained largely unknown because directly studying the scent-responsive neurons in the mosquito itself was technically challenging and labor-intensive work. https://phys.org/news/2019-10-deet-humans-invisibilty-cloak-fend.html Plants & Animals Thu, 17 Oct 2019 11:58:41 EDT news490532308 A trio of researchers at the University of Wisconsin has discovered that a common soil bacterium produces a chemical that is more effective in repelling mosquitoes than DEET. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, Mayur Kajla, Gregory Barrett-Wilt and Susan Paskewitz describe their search for the chemical made by the bacteria and their hopes for its future. https://phys.org/news/2019-01-soil-bacteria-mosquito-repelling-chemical.html Plants & Animals Thu, 17 Jan 2019 08:40:01 EST news466933892 Insect repellents containing picaridin can be lethal to salamanders. So reports a new study published today in Biology Letters that investigated how exposure to two common insect repellents influenced the survival of aquatic salamander and mosquito larvae. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-widely-mosquito-repellent-lethal-larval.html Ecology Wed, 31 Oct 2018 03:43:12 EDT news460176180 Nearly 700 million people suffer from mosquito-borne diseases—such as malaria, West Nile, Zika and dengue fever—each year, resulting in more than 1 million deaths. Increasingly, many species of mosquitoes have become resistant to the popular pyrethroid-based insecticides. Today, researchers report a new class of mosquito repellents based on naturally occurring compounds that are effective in repelling mosquitoes with potentially fewer environmental side effects than existing repellents. https://phys.org/news/2018-08-next-gen-insect-repellents-combat-mosquito-borne.html Materials Science Mon, 20 Aug 2018 05:43:33 EDT news453962601 Native North Americans have long adorned themselves and their homes with fragrant sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata), a native plant used in traditional medicine, to repel biting insects, and mosquitoes in particular. Now, researchers report that they have identified the compounds in sweetgrass that keep these bugs at bay. https://phys.org/news/2015-08-mosquito-repelling-chemicals-traditional-sweetgrass.html Biochemistry Mon, 17 Aug 2015 05:00:05 EDT news358966091 The smell of mozzie repellent is as much a part of summer as barbecues and the cricket. Despite supermarket and pharmacy shelves overflowing with insect repellents, there are actually only a few active ingredients to be found across the different formulations. https://phys.org/news/2014-10-sniffing-repellents-mozzies-deet.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 27 Oct 2014 18:27:34 EDT news333653241 For almost 50 years, people have used insect repellents containing DEET. But scientists still argue about how the stuff works. https://phys.org/news/2011-09-deet-insects.html Biochemistry Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:40:01 EDT news235833320 By following the "nose" of fruit flies, Yale scientists are on the trail of new insect repellents that may reduce the spread of infectious disease and damage to agricultural crops. That's because they've learned for the first time how a group of genes used to differentiate smells is turned on and off, opening new possibilities for insect control. Just as in new drug development, researchers can target these or similar genes in other insects to create substances that make crops and people "invisible" to insect antennae. https://phys.org/news/2010-09-fruit-flies-scientists-insect-repellents.html Biochemistry Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:25:31 EDT news204384316 Fire up the citronella-scented tiki torches, and slather on the DEET: Everybody knows these simple precautions repel insects, notably mosquitoes, whose bites not only itch and irritate, but also transmit diseases such as West Nile virus, malaria and dengue. https://phys.org/news/2010-08-scientists-chemical-repellants-insects.html Plants & Animals Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:00:22 EDT news201956056 After searching for more than 50 years, scientists finally have discovered a number of new mosquito repellents that beat DEET, the gold standard for warding off those pesky, sometimes disease-carrying insects. The stuff seems like a dream come true. It makes mosquitoes buzz off three times longer than DEET, the active ingredient in many of today's bug repellents. It does not have the unpleasant odor of DEET. And it does not cause DEET's sticky-skin sensation. https://phys.org/news/2009-08-amazing-mosquito-repellent.html Biochemistry Sun, 16 Aug 2009 12:24:11 EDT news169644175