Combating Malaria

The most important form of protection against infection by these flying bloodsuckers is a fine-mesh net with a weave as fine as a bride’s veil. Researchers from Bayer CropScience have now found a way of incorporating insecticides – the active substance Deltamethrin, which the WHO recommends as protection against mosquitoes – directly into the fibers of a plastic fabric to provide people in the tropics with long-term night-time protection against mosquitoes.

The outcome of this work is a new textile fiber which can be used to make impregnated mosquito nets which are softer, stronger and stay effective for longer. It is planned to bring the new, Long Lasting Insecticidal Bednet (LLIN) to market under the brand LifeNetŪ by 2011. Mid of march, Bayer CropScience has submitted the dossier for the new insecticidal bednet to the World Health Organization (WHO) and in the meantime received an interim recommendation.

Read more about LifeNet in research, the Bayer scientific magazine (PDF 465 KB).

Another approach for efficient insect and malaria control is the search for new molecules. An important project in this conjunction is a two-year research agreement with SentiSearch Inc. to cooperate in the identification of new molecules targeting odorant receptors in insects.

This project will build on the groundbreaking research carried out by Drs. Richard Axel and Leslie Vosshall, who discovered chemosensory receptors that are responsible for odor perception. Professor Axel was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his groundbreaking studies on olfactory perception.

The aim of this collaboration, which also involves arrangements with Columbia University and Rockefeller University, is to develop innovative solutions to improve control of malaria and dengue fever in countries where these diseases are endemic.

Bayer CropScience will contribute to this project its extensive library of compounds, screening capabilities and its experience in chemical synthesis and the development of insecticides. In turn, SentiSearch and the Universities will together provide proprietary assay technologies and knowledge in the field of chemoreception in insects. This will enable Bayer CropScience to use these assays to identify compounds which could modify the activity of insect odor receptors.

Various insect behaviors are guided by the sense of smell, including the ability to locate food, humans, animals, and mating partners. Mosquitoes, which transmit dangerous tropical diseases to humans, use the CO₂ content of exhaled air and other host odors to locate their hosts. The aim is for the new molecules to block the relevant receptors, which would prevent the insect from perceiving human odors.