Today, the best way to prevent malaria remains DDT. Though banned in the US by a politician over the objections of scientists, it is still recommended by the United Nations for use where malaria has not been wiped out. Our FDA even wrote the book on how to spray it in homes.
Despite 70 years of effort, viable affordable replacements remain elusive but a new program hopes LLMs could help find one. The National Institutes of Health funded a proposal to [use machine learning techniques combined with cheminformatics](https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/95532v1) to help generate new mosquito repellents.
DDT isn't the only option, if you want something topical that works, DEET is the best solution - if you are in a wealthy country. Pyrethroid insecticides in low doses through heated dispensers or coils are also effective but researchers want to stay ahead of mosquito resistance. The work will focus on discovering improved topical repellents; spatial repellents designed to protect spaces such as backyards and houses from mosquitoes; long-lasting pyrethroid analogs for use in bed nets and clothing; and enhanced spatial pyrethroid formulations to target mosquitoes exhibiting knockdown resistance to pyrethroids.
Mosquitoes use smell and taste systems to detect and feed on human hosts so one approach will be to use mosquito mutants to pinpoint the receptor pathways responsible for aversion of new repellents. This isn't in China, the mosquitoes are not escaping into the wild. The new approach will sift through 10 million compounds to find ways to leverage common food and flavoring materials but also identify analogs of pyrethroids that are up to 100 times more effective than industry standards like allethrin.
The proposed research aims to identify the most effective insect control compounds across **four** key categories. These are **improved topical repellents**, which provide long-lasting, pleasant-smelling protection for over 12-24 hours; **spatial repellents** designed to protect spaces such as backyards and houses from mosquitoes; long-lasting **pyrethroid analogs**, which are new pyrethroid-like molecules effective against resistant mosquito strains, making them ideal for use in bed nets and clothing; and **enhanced spatial pyrethroid formulations**, which offer increased effectiveness against mosquitoes exhibiting knockdown resistance (resistance to pyrethroid insecticides).