"Bacterial repellent"
The development of a "bacterial repellent" has begun, which will work for up to two weeks
Sergey Vasiliev, Naked Science
Mosquito bites can be not only irritating, but also directly dangerous, since these diptera carry a lot of dangerous diseases for people. Scientists around the world are looking for ways to solve the problem, even trying to release GM insects into the wild - so far with varying success. She is also concerned about the Office of Advanced Research Projects of the American Ministry of Defense (DARPA), which implements the ReVector program to create new effective repellents.
One of the projects of the program was the "Live Biotherapeutic Product" (LBP), on which scientists from Florida International University, pharmaceutical companies Azitra and Latham BioPharm started working. The consortium is headed by the biotech startup Ginkgo Bioworks, which received $ 15 million for these works. LBP is not a repellent in the usual sense of the word; it does not scare off bloodsuckers, but simply reduces the attractiveness of the human smell for them, changing the composition of the microflora of the skin.
In fact, our skin serves as a haven for many symbiotic bacteria that feed on fatty secretions and dead cells. It is their activity that leads to the appearance of volatile substances that create a characteristic smell of sweat. Therefore, the developers decided to populate the skin with specially created GM strains that will not produce compounds that attract mosquitoes. According to their estimates, one such treatment will protect a person from bites for two weeks at once.
So far, the project looks like just another item in a long series of fantastic ideas that DARPA has tried to implement. At least because the microflora of each person is individual, and it is difficult to predict what the reaction will be to the colonization of the skin with foreign strains in each particular case. Nevertheless, DARPA has a lot of successfully implemented technologies on its account. So it's worth waiting for the results of the ReVector program, which is designed for four years.
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