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To control disease-spreading mosquitoes, it’s not always necessary to kill the bugs. Sometimes all it takes is modifying their behavior.
To this end, BASF is participating in a global research program funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. The research program is led by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) and the U.S. Department of Defense. It consists of a collaboration of scientists from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), University of Minnesota-Duluth, Kasetsart University of Thailand and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. The program will explore chemicals that can alter the behavior of these insects. Focused on mosquitoes because of their disease-carrying abilities for dengue fever, West Nile virus, malaria and yellow fever, the goal of this research will be to develop new ways to repel or keep mosquitoes from entering dwellings and biting people, as well as to reduce mosquito populations in human-populated areas.
Not since the mid-1950s, when DEET was discovered, has there been as aggressive an effort to identify new, less toxic and more effective chemistries to control mosquitoes. To assist in these efforts, BASF is providing a chemical library of more than 500,000 synthetic compounds for the research. For BASF, this research can help the company evaluate compounds for future commercial development.
Using this library and specialized screening methods, researchers can quickly evaluate whether a compound will stimulate the desired change in mosquito behavior or provide control. Chemicals that show promise will undergo further study and development.
“Poorer areas of the world desperately need ways to halt the spread of vector-borne diseases like malaria and yellow fever,” said John H. Thomas, Global Marketing Manager of Public Health Products for BASF. “And while today’s insecticides are highly effective, they can sometimes be cost-prohibitive for impoverished areas of the world.”
“Consistent with BASF’s vision of ‘Verbund,’ we hope that by identifying many more chemicals that influence insect behavior, we’ll discover important new and cost-effective ways to improve the health and lives of people worldwide,” added Bob Farlow, Manager, Field Biology, BASF Global Research Insecticides.
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