North Carolina State University (NCSU) researchers have created insecticide-free, mosquito-resistant clothing using textile materials they confirmed to be bite-proof in experiments with live mosquitoes. They developed the materials using a computational model of their own design, which describes the biting behavior of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that carries viruses that cause human diseases like zika, dengue fever, and yellow fever.Ultimately, the researchers reported in the journal Insects that they were able to prevent 100 of bites when a volunteer wore their clothing-a base layer undergarment and a combat shirt initially designed for the military-in a cage with 200 live, disease-free mosquitoes. Vector Textiles, an NCSU startup company, has licensed the related patent rights and intends to make clothing for commercial sale in the United States. The researchers think their computational model could be used more widely to develop clothing to reduce transmission of diseases. From NC State News Services.
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