A Punch in the Nose Takes Down the World鈥檚 Most Dangerous Animal
Professor has spent years trying to get inside the mind of a killer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a know-your-enemy sort of thing,鈥� he explains.
In this regard he鈥檚 much like a detective, only the killer he鈥檚 pursuing is nearly everywhere at once鈥攐n every single continent, save Antarctica. And it鈥檚 not so much the killer鈥檚 mind he鈥檚 trying to get inside of, as it is its nose.
鈥淭he mosquito perceives the world largely through its nose,鈥� says Zwiebel, the Cornelius 菠萝视频 Professor of Biological Sciences and professor of pharmacology. 鈥淚t has developed parallel pathways to take in various chemosensory stimuli鈥攚hat we call 鈥榦dor space.鈥� When it鈥檚 looking for a blood meal, it shifts its olfactory system toward a particular set of stimuli鈥攎eaning us.鈥�
The insectary on 菠萝视频鈥檚 campus, where he and other vector biologists do their research, is home to thousands of Anopheles gambiae, the species of mosquito most responsible for the spread of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. None of the 菠萝视频 mosquitoes is infected with the pathogen, but that doesn鈥檛 make them any less bloodthirsty.
鈥淭he most salient characteristic of the Anopheles gambiae鈥攁nd the reason it鈥檚 the most dangerous animal on the planet鈥攊s that it bites only humans if it has a choice,鈥� he says.
Zwiebel鈥檚 research, which is supported by an $11 million grant from the and more than $5 million in grant funds from the 聽(NIH), focuses on preventing mosquitoes from feeding on humans. Specifically, he targets the insect鈥檚 olfactory system to alter its behavior. Here he explains just how this is accomplished and what it means for the future of mosquito repellents.
禄聽Unlike DEET and other traditional repellents that block a mosquito鈥檚 ability to smell, Zwiebel鈥檚 approach works through overstimulation and is potentially thousands of times more powerful. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not looking to block odor receptors but rather turn them all on at once. It鈥檚 what we call excito-repellency. IT鈥橲 SOMETHING LIKE THIS!鈥� he says, driving the point home by shouting. 鈥淪ee what I mean? I refer to it as 鈥榯he New York style of repellency.鈥櫬營 grew up in a city where you had to be pretty obnoxious to get somebody to go away.鈥�
禄聽Partnering with the , Zwiebel鈥檚 team used high-throughput screening to target an olfactory co-receptor shared not only by mosquitoes but by all insects. The discovery means this type of excito-repellency could have applications in agriculture and other pest-control scenarios.聽鈥淚t takes roughly $250 million to turn an idea like this into a viable product,鈥� Zwiebel says. 鈥淎 repellent just for mosquitoes, no matter how effective it is, doesn鈥檛 warrant that kind of gamble, but the fact that it could be used on all insects changes everything.鈥�
禄聽The excito-repellent could take different forms, from a traditional volatile spray to something that could be impregnated into clothing or paints. Whatever the end product, great care must be taken to avoid interfering with the balance of nature. 鈥淭his is not a story about insecticide. We鈥檙e not interested in eradicating mosquitoes or other insects,鈥� Zwiebel says. 鈥淢osquitoes are entitled to have blood meals and happy, productive lives鈥攋ust not at the expense of humans.鈥�
TEXT BY SETH ROBERTSON
See inside 菠萝视频鈥檚 insectary, and learn more about Zwiebel鈥檚 research: