05/02/2009

In the developing world over a million children under five years of age lose their lives to malaria every year. The European project ENAROMaTIC (European Network for Advanced Research on Olfaction for Malaria Transmitting Insect Control), in which two Greek organisations also participate. the NCSR Demokritos (as coordinator) and the National Hellenic Research Foundation, aim to limit malaria with the exploitation of new technologies and, more specifically, with interventions which aim to reduce the ability of the mosquitoes which are responsible for the transmission of the disease to detect scents of human origin in their environment.

A parasite is responsible for the disease, which is transmitted via the ?bite?, by contaminated female mosquitoes which suck blood from their human hosts. The female mosquitoes detect the presence of their human hosts in the environment via the detection of smells emitted. Specialised biological molecules in the antennas of the mosquitoes, the major organs for detecting scents, regulate the manner in which the mosquitoes sense the smells in their environment via a complicated process. If this process can be interrupted, then the female mosquitoes will lose their ability to be oriented by the smell, and to be directed to their targets, so the transmission of the malaria parasite to humans will also be prevented.

Within the framework of the ENAROMaTIC project, the manner in which the mosquito Anopheles gambiae detects smells in its environment will be studied. New substances of natural and synthetic origin which have the potential to hinder the natural smelling operation of female mosquitoes in the laboratory, and which will be biologically safe for humans and the environment, will be tested in selected areas of Africa, where Anopheles gambiae and malaria thrive, in order to evaluate their effectiveness in field conditions.

The identification and use of such substances ? at an individual level (rubbing on the skin, rubbing on mosquito nets and limited areas) as well as at a collective level (perimeter spraying, or the placement of scenting traps in areas where malaria thrives), will decisively assist the reduction of the frequency of bites and the transmission of malaria from the mosquitoes, carriers of the parasite. Additionally, the approaches, the methodologies and the results of the ENAROMaTIC project will constitute the prototypes for corresponding attempts which will aim at the limitation of other infectious disease transmitted to humans by different types of mosquitoes and by other insects.

Ten organisations from seven European countries, an organisation from the USA and one from sub-Saharan Africa are participating in the project partnership. Among them, are the Biology Institute of the NCSR Demokritos, which co-ordinates the project and the Institute of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry of the National Hellenic Research Foundation. The product duration is 48 months and its funding, within the 7th Framework Programme, amounts to 2.5 million euros.

Source: 3003