LiveScience's Image of the Day

Breath Detectors

Monday December 18, 2006

More Images...

Mosquitoes use the carbon dioxide you exhale to identify a potential food source. Now researchers have discovered the two receptors in fruit flies (similar insects) that help the insect to detect carbon dioxide. Since biting mosquitoes are known to pass on several infectious diseases, such as malaria and West Nile encephalitis, the findings could be important in the fight against these global diseases.

The two proteins, Gr21a (green) and Gr63a (red), must work together (white) to allow the fly's neurons to detect the gas. These neurons are found in a region of the brain that is dedicated to processing the smell of carbon dioxide.

"Though we don't know what other proteins might be involved in the signaling pathway, the identification of the carbon dioxide receptor provides a potential target for the design of inhibitors that would act as an insect repellent," said lead researcher Leslie Vosshall of Rockefeller University. "These inhibitors would help fight global infectious disease by reducing the attraction of blood-feeding insects to humans."

-- LiveScience Staff

Credit: Leslie Vosshall/Rockefeller University

Advertisement

From the Blogs

LiveScience Blogs
  1. The Bug Hunt Is On. Target: Marine Aliens
  2. HARPS Discovery - HD 40307 And Its Three Super-Earths
  3. Can This British Columbia Lake Tell Us Something About Life On Other Planets?
  4. Power Equals Positive Action But Only When Acquired Legitimately
  5. X Chromosome Gets Some Respect As An Evolutionary Tool
  6. Estrogen Therapy May Limit Strokes In Women - But The Timing Has To Be Right
  7. Reminder: Garth Sundem's Foolproof Equations On The Science Channel Tonight At 6PM
  1. 6.15.2008 | Tariq Malik
    Father?s Day on Earth, in Space
    t’s Father’s Day on Earth, and just in time for the seven-astronaut crew of NASA’s shuttle Discovery, which landed yesterday in... ...
  2. 6.14.2008 | Robert Roy Britt
    Cutting the Technotether That Ruins Your Life
    he deluge of office and personal email and IM and texting, along with web surfing, putzing with iTunes and so on has workers increasingly distracted... ...

Related Items from the LiveScience Store

  1. Go to Store
  2. Go to Store

More Stores to Explore