VUAA1: New powerful mosquito repellent
May 11th, 2011 - 7:47 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattVanderbilt, May 11 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Researchers from Vanderbilt University have discovered what they believe is the ultimate weapon against mosquitoes. The new compound has been identified as VUAA1 and the researchers say it is thousands of times more powerful than any known mosquito repellent.
The fight against malaria has been ongoing for decades. Scientists have tried in vain to eliminate the disease that causes more deaths in developing nation. Mosquitoes are known to spread the disease but how to get rid of the mosquitoes have been very difficult for scientists.
Mosquito repellents are often used to keep the mosquitoes away and protect a person against a bite. The scientists say the new compound has several times the power of the current repellents meaning they can be very effective in keeping the bites off.
The next challenge is to determine if the compound is economically viable.
The Professor of Biological Sciences at the university, Laurence Zwiebel, announced that, “It’s too soon to determine whether this specific compound can act as the basis of a commercial product. But it is the first of its kind and, as such, can be used to develop other similar compounds that have characteristics appropriate for commercialization.”
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Tags: biological sciences, commercialization, compounds, deaths, decades, malaria, mosquito, mosquito repellent, mosquito repellents, mosquitoes, scientists, several times, ultimate weapon, vanderbilt university, zwiebel