Dieting mosquitoes prevent disease

Diet-drug deters mosquitoes from biting...
10 February 2019
Presented byJenny Gracie.
Production byJenny Gracie.

BITING-MOSQUITO

The image shows a mosquito biting a human.

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Scientists have given a dieting drug made for humans to mosquitoes in order to curb their appetite. Researchers at the Rockefeller University in New York have worked through hundreds of thousands of molecule-receptor combinations to find the right one able to suppress the mosquito's hunger. As a result, mosquitoes were not interested in seeking a human blood meal and so this method could be used to help stop the spread of deadly diseases. Jenny Gracie spoke with Laura Duvall, lead author of the paper recently published inCell, to find out why mosquitoes bite us in the first place...

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