ABSTRACT
Blood-feeding insects are common vectors of a number of diseases such as dengue fever, malaria, West Nile encephalitis, meningitis, and poliomyelitis, which affect public life throughout the world. Prevention of mosquito-borne diseases primarily depends on vector control, which requires knowledge of insect sensory biology for the development of efficient methods to manipulate their behavior. The need for better repellents is increasingly urgent in view of the heightening risk of mosquito expansion caused by global climate changes and a growing resistance to existing repellents. Insect olfaction is a sophisticated, multistep process, which involves interactions between odorants and specific 40proteins, generation of electric signals in neurons, and propagation of the signals to the brain for processing. Each step represents a separate line of research, which needs to be taken into account in a rational approach to repellent design. A full cycle of rational repellent design should include the following key steps: molecular modeling and design, synthesis, and behavioral assays.
