By using computational models, chemists created novel and effective repellents to help keep us free of mosquito bite.<BR><BR>Read More
Repelling mosquitoes with new chemicals
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73...days?! That's impressive, to be sure. I'd love to actually read the article, I miss having university access >< It'd be pretty great if these new compounds also didn't melt plastic, oh the joys of DEET.
"As long as the new repellents are safe for use in the long run and can be commercialized at a reasonable price, we can look forward to experiencing better protection from those pesky mosquitoes."<BR><BR>Sounds good, but not on this planet. "As long as several short term studies can be manipulated to make the new repellents look safe, we can look forward to experiencing better protection from those pesky mosquitoes."<BR><BR>"Then we will have at best decades of internet crackpots linking the repellents to cancer and autism, and at worst an ecological collapse or clear link to medical problems in humans."
Its probably going to be hard to match the safety and effectiveness of DEET, but I wouldn't mind something a little better smelling either.
Yeah, it's a great idea, but it's really hard to argue with a 50-year track record of safety. What company is going to take the risk?
OrangeCream
Ars Legatus Legionis
The Gates Foundation? They do want to eradicate malaria after all.<BR><BR>Of course, 73 days... Does this mean it turns your skin permanently purple? Or that it smells like burned hair?
It wasn't the new compound that kept the skeeters away-- it was the fact that the dude wasn't allowed to bathe for 2 months.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by aJavaProgrammer:<BR>It wasn't the new compound that kept the skeeters away-- it was the fact that the dude wasn't allowed to bathe for 2 months. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Thankfully, the volunteers didn't have to avoid showers. The 2.5 and 25 umol/cm2 spread area was onto a thin patch of cloth that is very breathable and allows the mosquitoes to bite. The cloth was kept in the same condition, but the volunteers were allowed to peel off the cloth and go home to keep up their personal hygiene levels.<BR><BR>Of course, if these chemicals were directly applied to the skin, it wouldn't last as long because people sweat, shower, etc. The point of the experiment, however, was to show that these new chemicals are more effective than DEET.
I would be more intrigued if they went head-to-head against catnip oil - which can be simply grown and extracted instead of synthesized.<BR><BR>Of course, you can't patent catnip extract.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tom the Melaniephile:<BR>Of course, you can't patent catnip extract. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>You can patent the extraction process, and the processes that are similar.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by OrangeCream:<BR>The Gates Foundation? They do want to eradicate malaria after all. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Well, if they really wanted to eradicate malaria, then they should fight to legalize DDT- a safe, effective mosquito fighting chemical. But then, too many people believe a work of fiction over actual science. And so millions of innocent people (many children) die needlessly.
OrangeCream
Ars Legatus Legionis
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by apple4ever:<BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by OrangeCream:<BR>The Gates Foundation? They do want to eradicate malaria after all. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Well, if they really wanted to eradicate malaria, then they should fight to legalize DDT- a safe, effective mosquito fighting chemical. But then, too many people believe a work of fiction over actual science. And so millions of innocent people (many children) die needlessly. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Uh, there are actual studies of it's effects outside Silent Spring. DDT is effective but not safe. If they could eradiate malaria with only a handful of doses of DDT, then that may be permissible... but the need to continually dose multiple times a year for years would do disastrous things:<BR>1) Kill fish and shellfish (as the compound will inevitably end up in the water supply)<BR>2) It bioaccumulates, so it's effect magnifies as it is used<BR>3) Mosquitoes have already developed resistence to DDT after use for 6 or 7 years (this was in 1956!) This is especially true in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Sri Lanka, and Central America.<BR><BR>If you want to use DDT, you need to do something other than mass-spray.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by apple4ever:<BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by OrangeCream:<BR>The Gates Foundation? They do want to eradicate malaria after all. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Well, if they really wanted to eradicate malaria, then they should fight to legalize DDT- a safe, effective mosquito fighting chemical. But then, too many people believe a work of fiction over actual science. And so millions of innocent people (many children) die needlessly. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Which countries ban DDT that you think should not? From what I understand, DDT is widely used against malaria, and its mainly malaria free countries that ban its use.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by zeotherm:<BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tom the Melaniephile:<BR>Of course, you can't patent catnip extract. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>You can patent the extraction process, and the processes that are similar. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Sure, though the trivial methods are already widely known: Solvent and/or vacuum.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tom the Melaniephile:<BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by zeotherm:<BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tom the Melaniephile:<BR>Of course, you can't patent catnip extract. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>You can patent the extraction process, and the processes that are similar. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Sure, though the trivial methods are already widely known: Solvent and/or vacuum. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Uh, perhaps you should read the article... To quote the catnip article:<BR><BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">A patent application for the use of catnip compounds as insect repellents was submitted last year by the Iowa State University Research Foundation. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Cattran:<BR>Since when does DEET protect for 17.5 days. Hours? </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>I thought the same thing.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by OrangeCream:<BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by apple4ever:<BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by OrangeCream:<BR>The Gates Foundation? They do want to eradicate malaria after all. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Well, if they really wanted to eradicate malaria, then they should fight to legalize DDT- a safe, effective mosquito fighting chemical. But then, too many people believe a work of fiction over actual science. And so millions of innocent people (many children) die needlessly. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Uh, there are actual studies of it's effects outside Silent Spring. DDT is effective but not safe. If they could eradiate malaria with only a handful of doses of DDT, then that may be permissible... but the need to continually dose multiple times a year for years would do disastrous things:<BR>1) Kill fish and shellfish (as the compound will inevitably end up in the water supply)<BR>2) It bioaccumulates, so it's effect magnifies as it is used<BR>3) Mosquitoes have already developed resistence to DDT after use for 6 or 7 years (this was in 1956!) This is especially true in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Sri Lanka, and Central America.<BR><BR>If you want to use DDT, you need to do something other than mass-spray. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>I remember reading that low levels of DDT applied to the walls of bedrooms in malaria afflicted areas would be sufficient to wipe out malaria. The mosquitoes roost on the walls before and after feeding, so this kind of limited use would be effective.<BR><BR>In any case, the chief problem with DDT was not its use to eradicate mosquitoes to prevent the spread of malaria, it was the use of it as an agricultural pesticide: using large quantities to treat farmland which was then heavily irrigated, thus washing most of the DDT into the water courses, and requiring further dosing.<BR><BR>Perhaps, if its use had been limited to control of malaria carrying mosquitoes, it wouldn't have been banned.<BR><BR>Besides, by the time it was banned, malaria had been eradicated in North America and Europe.
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