With the summer season just getting started it means that the mosquitos and all other fun insects are coming back to play. It is no secret that getting a bite on your arm that leaves one scratching for days is no ones favorite part of their vacation but what if there was a new repellent that could not only keep you bite for, but help save lives?
Back in 2011, Popular Science, did a story on the new insect repellent being developed by Vanderbilt University researchers that would no only save people from itching but prevent the deadly diseases that can come from some nasty insect bites. Researchers are now claiming that the new product is more successful than DEET, which is the main ingredient in most insect sprays such as OFF!
CNN recently reported that this advancement has a name and it is VAUU1 for now and works in the opposite way most sprays do. While the repellents we are used to tries to musk the smell of our body from the insects to keep them away, VAUU1 instead over stimulates the scent. The insects hate overstimulation of their senses, such as smell, as much as humans do and this spray would over heighten the human scent and would cause the bugs to flee from it.
Researchers have high hopes that the spray could be used all over the world and even help reduce the amount of malaria in Africa and Asia.
It sounds like a dream come true and we will have to wait and see if this spray will take off.