pte20230414001 medicine/wellness, products/innovations
Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reduce bite frequency by up to 80 percent
Mosquito repellent: just spray on and be protected (Photo: new.huji.ac.il) |
Jerusalem (pte001/14.04.2023/06:00) –
With a new type of active ingredient applied to the skin as a spray or gel, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Protecting people from mosquito bites that transmit deadly diseases. Additional advantage: the preparation is made from natural raw materials. According to Daniel Voignac’s team, these are cellulose nanocrystals (CNC).
Transparent barrier film
Cellulose, which is abundantly obtained from wood industry waste and local food and paper waste, is treated with sulfuric acid to form nanocrystals. When mixed with water and glycerin, these form a gel or spray that can be applied to the skin. There they combine to form a strong but transparent barrier film.
Mosquitoes usually cannot penetrate this film, so they cannot get the blood they desire, so they cannot transmit pathogens. The film also blocks perspiration from the skin that attracts mosquitoes. In experiments with Aedes aegypti–Mosquitoes exposed CNC-treated and untreated hands of volunteers to 15 hungry females in a cage for 10 minutes by Voignac and his colleagues. The frequency of bites fell by 80 percent with protected hands.
Protection against over 20 diseases
Female mosquitoes need human or animal blood to produce eggs, so severely reducing this food source, particularly in densely populated areas, could reduce dangerous insect numbers, a welcome side benefit of the supplement. When it will be commercialized is open. Mosquitoes are vectors of more than 20 serious diseases, including Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika, Rift Valley, West Nile, Yellow Fever and Japanese Encephalitis.
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