[Michaelangelica]

DDT use in malaria campaign requires extreme caution

2008-08-24 10:06:00
By Theonestina Kaiza-Boshe

Malaria, being a number one killer disease in Tanzania, is one disease that any Tanzanian would wish the Government to accord the highest priority in fighting.

DDT use in malaria campaign requires extreme caution

9. Placing a dryer sheet in your pocket will keep the mosquitoes away.

My Good Cents Blog Archive Did You Know?
Whats a dryer sheet?

But did you know you can rub the powder found on the bark of a Quaking Aspen tree on your skin and it works as mosquito repellent. You see, mosquito repellent actually works not because the mosquitoes are driven away by the offensive smell, but because there are chemical compounds whose odor blocks the mosquito's sensory receptors effectively hiding us. So, you can be invisible to mosquitoes by buying mosquito repellent with "DEET," an organic hydrocarbon molecule, or use the powder from the bark of your Quaking Aspen tree, an organic molecule from a whole 'nuther source.

Multi-Use Plants and Shrubs

What are mosquitoes good for?
by Kelly A. Mello

Believe it or not, mosquitoes are good for more than just buzzing in your ear and giving you that itchy bump. As with all living creatures, they are a part of "the circle of life".

You see, fish eat mosquitoes when they are larvae, and birds and bats eat them when they are adult insects. Various other carnivores eat those animals, which we, in turn, eat. If mosquitoes were to be eradicated, this would throw the whole system out of order, just as if you were to do this with any living organism.

Additionally, mosquitoes are pollinators. Since the diet of mosquitoes is composed of plant nectar, they help plant life grow. You can use this to your advantage. If you live in a highly populated mosquito area, plant some flowers in your yard to attract them to the pollen, rather than your arms, legs and other delicacies.

Unfortunately, there are no more reasons that I can think of as to how mosquitoes are good. Honestly, at first glance, I write them off as one of Earth's greatest pests. However, the benefits of them that I have given should not be taken lightly. If you take mosquitoes out of the picture, you might as well take yourself out too. So before you raise your hand in the slapping position, pay a tribute to the almighty pollinator and fish/bird/bat food.

What are mosquitoes good for? - by Kelly A. Mello - Helium

Three Nice Things We Can Say About Mosquitoes

1. You should have no beef with half the world's mosquitoes because the males don't bite. Your problem is with the ladies, not the guys
2. Mosquito ladies have an excuse. Being (most of them) good mothers, they are biting to provide food for their babies.
3.Every time human settlers stepped into those areas in serious numbers, they got bit, then they got sick, and then, until very recently, most of them backed off.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=93049810

[Michaelangelica]

DDT use in malaria campaign requires extreme caution

2008-08-24 10:06:00
By Theonestina Kaiza-Boshe

Malaria, being a number one killer disease in Tanzania, is one disease that any Tanzanian would wish the Government to accord the highest priority in fighting.

DDT use in malaria campaign requires extreme caution
.................................................. .................................................. ..
Mosquitoes stay away from DEET because they hate the smell!
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=40868
According to scientists in the U.S. the reason why the insect repellent DEET works so well is because mosquitoes don't like the smell.
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=40868

9. Placing a dryer sheet in your pocket will keep the mosquitoes away.

My Good Cents Blog Archive Did You Know?
What's a dryer sheet?

But did you know you can rub the powder found on the bark of a Quaking Aspen tree on your skin and it works as mosquito repellent. You see, mosquito repellent actually works not because the mosquitoes are driven away by the offensive smell, but because there are chemical compounds whose odour blocks the mosquito's sensory receptors effectively hiding us.
So, you can be invisible to mosquitoes by buying mosquito repellent with "DEET," an organic hydrocarbon molecule, or use the powder from the bark of your Quaking Aspen tree, an organic molecule from a whole 'nuther source.

Multi-Use Plants and Shrubs

What are mosquitoes good for?
by Kelly A. Mello
Believe it or not, mosquitoes are good for more than just buzzing in your ear and giving you that itchy bump. As with all living creatures, they are a part of "the circle of life".

You see, fish eat mosquitoes when they are larvae, and birds and bats eat them when they are adult insects.
Various other carnivores eat those animals, which we, in turn, eat.
If mosquitoes were to be eradicated, this would throw the whole system out of order, just as if you were to do this with any living organism.

Additionally, mosquitoes are pollinators.
Since the diet of mosquitoes is composed of plant nectar, they help plant life grow. You can use this to your advantage.
If you live in a highly populated mosquito area, plant some flowers in your yard to attract them to the pollen, rather than your arms, legs and other delicacies.

Unfortunately, there are no more reasons that I can think of as to how mosquitoes are good.
Honestly, at first glance, I write them off as one of Earth's greatest pests. However, the benefits of them that I have given should not be taken lightly.
If you take mosquitoes out of the picture, you might as well take yourself out too.
So before you raise your hand in the slapping position, pay a tribute to the almighty pollinator and fish/bird/bat food.

What are mosquitoes good for? - by Kelly A. Mello - Helium

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Mosquitos, What Good Are They Anyway?

NPR's Krulwich on Science discusses the positive marks of mosquitos with David Quammen this morning. Here is my favorite reason, go to the link above for more:

"Knowing, as we all do, that humans for eons have been moving into forests and plains and shores and river valleys and hills, pushing animals, vegetables and minerals around in their very human way, destroying more and more life forms, and knowing, as we also do, that we are down to precious few places on Earth where there is still a rich diversity of species, have you ever wondered why, even into the 21st century, there are still large tracts of equatorial rainforest that have somehow survived human exploitation?

Who or what has defended those last outposts of ferns, butterflies, beetles and ants from humankind?

Quammen says while there may be many explanations, certainly the lady mosquito deserves credit. Every time human settlers stepped into those areas in serious numbers, they got bit, then they got sick, and then, until very recently, most of them backed off.

So all you biophiliacs, tree huggers, Green Party members: If greens everywhere wanted to say thank you to one creature, one fierce defender of ecological diversity who's been willing to bite to defend her turf, they should, says Quammen, say "thanks to 10 million generations of jungle-loving, disease-bearing, blood-sucking insects" — and especially, of course, to the lady mosquito, "nature's Viet Cong."

http://other95.blogspot.com/2008/07/...ey-anyway.html

What Good Do Mosquitoes Do?

Mosquitoes are not all pests. There are many mosquitoes that rarely bite humans or only ever occur in very small numbers. Mosquitoes provide food for birds, bats, frogs, fish and other insects. Some mosquitoes may also help pollinate plants.

http://www1.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au/hne...sLifecycle.htm

[Michaelangelica]

No More Big Stink: Scent Lures Mosquitoes, But Humans Can't Smell It

ScienceDaily (Aug. 31, 2008) — Mosquito traps that reek like latrines may be no more. A University of California, Davis research team led by chemical ecologist Walter Leal has discovered a low-cost, easy-to-prepare attractant that lures blood-fed mosquitoes without making humans hold their noses.
See also:

The synthetic mixture, containing compounds trimethylamine and nonanal in low doses, is just as enticing to Culex mosquitoes as the current attractants, Leal said, but this one is odorless to humans.

The research, published in the current edition of the Public Library of Science Journal or PLoS One, could play a key role in surveillance and control programs for Culex species, which transmit such diseases as West Nile virus, encephalitis and lymphatic filariasis.

No More Big Stink: Scent Lures Mosquitoes, But Humans Can't Smell It

[Michaelangelica]

The Scientist Ending Malaria with His Army of Mosquitoes

For decades scientists have been chasing a genetically engineered vaccine that would prevent the one million deaths that occur from malaria every year. Stephen Hoffman thinks he's found a better one -- in the mosquitoes themselves.

By Jason Fagone
. . .


It turns out, though, that there is a way to disrupt the life cycle of the parasite. If a scientist zaps one of these mosquitoes with gamma radiation, the parasites inside it become weakened. If this irradiated mosquito bites you, the parasites travel to your liver, same as before. But now they just sit there. They don't cause you any harm, because they never multiply into an army or hatch into your blood. And yet the parasites--as the scientist can't help but notice--are still alive, meaning that, in theory, they're capable of priming an immune response. Which is how vaccines have worked for more than two hundred years, going all the way back to Edward Jenner's discovery that when he scraped some fluid from a cowpox blister into a cut on a little boy's arm, that boy was protected against smallpox.

Malaria Prevention - Stephen Hoffman - Cures for Malaria - Esquire

[Michaelangelica]

Vital molecule found in virus family
Friday, 12 December 2008
University of Queensland
[IMG]http://www.sciencealert.com.au/images/stories/university_of_queensland

/alexander_khromykh_team.jpg[/img]
From left, Dr Anneke Funk,
Associate Professor Alexander
Khromykh and Ms Shessy Torres.
Image: University of Queensland

Vital molecule found in virus family
Research conducted at The University of Queensland (UQ) could contribute to the development of a vaccine and cure for West Nile virus and Dengue fever.

Led by Associate Professor Alexander Khromykh, a team of researchers from UQ's School of Molecular and Microbial Sciences identified a novel characteristic of the virus family to which these diseases belong.

The team found all flaviviruses produced a small molecule which, among other functions, controlled the host's response to viral infection.

This molecule, called a subgenomic noncoding ribonucleic acid (sfRNA), is a part of the virus genome.

Vital molecule found in virus family*(ScienceAlert)

[Michaelangelica]

When acquiring mosquito-borne disease is a good thing
* 11:47 16 July 2008 by Debora MacKenzie
When acquiring mosquito-borne disease is a good thing - health - 16 July 2008 - New Scientist

[Michaelangelica]

Scientists claim dengue fever breakthrough

There have been more than 50 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne virus in Cairns since last November.

There have been more than 50 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne virus in Cairns since last November. (ABC TV News - file image)

Queensland scientists believe they have discovered a safe and inexpensive way to control the spread of dengue fever.

Dengue fever kills around 20,000 people worldwide each year and there have been more than 50 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne virus in Cairns in far north Queensland since last November.

Researchers at the University of Queensland have successfully injected bacteria into mosquito embryos so the insect dies before it is old enough to transmit the virus to humans.

Scientists claim dengue fever breakthrough - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[Michaelangelica]

“Mosquito control technique – useful tip!

If you have lemon flavoured dishwashing liquid, just pour a few drops into a white dinner plate filled with a little water. Set the dish on your porch, patio, picnic table, park bench or any outdoor area. The mosquitoes will flock to it and drop dead shortly after drinking the mixture.”

My friend added that it helps control the number of mosquitoes around your home and is especially good if you have pets and young children.

Mosquito fix
I thought lemon scented things like citronella grass repelled mosquitoes?

[Michaelangelica]

This makes you think about becomming a Buddhist

How Mosquitoes Could Teach Us A Trick In The Fight Against Malaria
. . .
Most of the malaria parasites are killed by the mosquito's immune system as soon as they enter the insect's bloodstream, with only one or two slipping through the net and going on to divide, multiply, and infect people.

The new study shows exactly how the mosquito's immune system kicks in to kill 80 - 90 percent of the parasites.
The researchers discovered that the parasites are detected by a pair of proteins called LRIM1 and APL1C which belong to the mosquito's infection surveillance system.
These two 'intruder detection' proteins then activate a third protein in the mosquito's blood called TEP1, which seeks out the parasitic invader, binds to its surface and orchestrates its destruction by punching holes in its cell membrane.

The Imperial College London team behind the new discovery say this knowledge could be used to develop new genetic or chemical techniques to improve on the mosquito's natural detection success rate, so that 100 percent of the parasites can be killed inside the mosquito, preventing transmission of the disease from insects to people.

Related Stories
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Malaria-Resistant Mosquitoes Thrive In Lab (Mar. 22, 2007) — Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute (JHMRI) determined that genetically-engineered malaria-resistant mosquitoes fared better than their natural counterparts when fed ... > read more
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How Mosquitoes Could Teach Us A Trick In The Fight Against Malaria

[Michaelangelica]

We can learn even from the pesky mosquito.

Mosquito immune system 'attacks malaria'

Scientists have discovered how the mosquito immune system attacks the malaria parasite, which could help in preventing the disease in humans.

Scientists from Imperial College London found that the mosquito immune system has the capability to kill between 80 and 90 per cent of the malaria parasite.

The study, which was part-funded by the Wellcome Trust, has led to hopes that new chemical or genetic techniques could be employed to reduce the transmission of malaria to people.

Dr George Christophides, the research leader, said: "Now that we know exactly how [the mosquito] immune system attacks malaria parasites, we need to work out how a small number of parasites manage to evade detection by this system.

"Only a few manage to get past the mosquito's defences, but that's all that's needed for the disease to be transmitted to humans. If we can figure out how some parasites manage to sneak through undetected, hopefully we can find a way to bolster the mosquito's defences to catch them all."

Global Health TV :: Articles :: Mosquito immune system 'attacks malaria'