Stevenjd I had to have a laugh when you suggested that the new...

Stevenjd

I had to have a laugh when you suggested that the new mode of action could be tickling the insects to death.

I was wondering about this too when I read the January mosquito trials, which refers to the new novel mode of action, but doesn't state what it is.

I asked yesterday when new mosquito trials would begin, assuming that they were all over once the January results were issued. But after reading the announcement again, I'm sure they are ongoing for statements that both Hill and Jagger made, in which case, new results may not be far away, as trialling doses to kill mosquitos is far quicker than clinical oncology trials, for example. It was the dose level that Hill referred to.

Getting back to the mode of action that is doing the business on the bugs, it is the nervous system that is effected by the common insecticides by way of the voltage-gated sodium channel. VGSC are vital components of excitatory cells, those cells involved in motor action.

But as Flavosone was effective (read, killed them dead !) on insecticide resistant mosquitoes, it demonstrates that it is not the VSGC in Flavesone's mode of action. (My formal logic studies tells me that this argument needs testing).

I'm unsure whether or not Hill knows what the mode of action is. The results certainly didn't ellaborate on what it was. Maybe they did so for protecting their ongoing research.

She did state that, 'with limited options for alternative mosquito management molecules, there may be potential for flavesone as part of an integrated resistance management strategy, which is vital for the long-term control of mosquitoes globally. My underlined phrase means to me that there are few other options other than the nervous system available for killing mosquitos (or other bugs). It seems to me to support the idea that Flavosone's mode of action is unknown on mosquitoes. I may be completely incorrect on this, as one would imagine they know how it works. It's worth noting that Jagger commented that these results 'allows us to refine a range of second round testing to further identify where this molecule may be of commercial significance in the field of mosquito control.'

So, in short, it appears that the nervous system is not effected, which rules out your hypothesis of tickling. Therefore, you may like to write a postcript: Overcoming Zika is no laughing matter.



An exciteable cell: single interneuron in the retina of a rabbit. The cell has been injected with a fluorescent dye to reveal all its branches. Each of the small knobs at the tips of the branches makes a synapse with another cell in the retina. Link - getting excited.

Academic article: Molecular Mechanism of Action and Selectivity of Sodium Channel Blocker Insecticides