Combating West Nile Virus and other Tropical Diseases

Entomologists at the University of California, Riverside working on fruit flies have discovered a novel class of compounds that could pave the way for developing inexpensive and safe mosquito repellents for combating West Nile virus and other tropical diseases. Carbon dioxide emitted in human breath is the main attractant for the Culex mosquito to find people. Anandasankar Ray and Stephanie Turner identified odorants present in ripening fruit that prevent carbon dioxide-sensitive neurons in fruit fly antennae from functioning.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• UC Riverside
• University of California
• UCR
• entomology
• bugs
• research
• fruit fly
• fruit flies
• Ray Turner