There is more than meets the eye with this particular bug spray, thanks to researchers over at Vanderbilt University who claims that this particular version of the bug spray is thousands of times stronger compared to DEET, with the capability of working across a range of insects, and needless to say, this could very well help save lives down the road. The scientists who are behind this particular repellent are calling it VUAA1 for now, where they claim it works well on mosquitoes as well as other insects such as ants, flies, moths and a variety of different bugs.
Originally, this particular project kicked off with the objective of curbing the spread of malaria, a disease that could be contracted by up to half a billion people in 2014 alone, according to Laurence Zwiebel, chairman of the biological science department at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. This particular chemical compound that was discovered by the researchers could be used for a wider variety of six-legged insects, and according to Zweibel, “We decided to take a more aggressive approach and, rather than turn off the mosquito’s olfactory system, we could look for something that would turn it too far on, to see if we could design a new generation of insect repellents based on overloading their smell system. They hate, just like we hate, overstimulation. They will move away from too much smell.”
To date, the VUAA1 has proved to be effective on every single insect that it has been tested on, and it could see its use widened to target bugs that eat crops all the way to a commercial product which could help ensure your home remains pest-free.
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