Scientists
have found how to make scents that repel and attract insects.
The
research team at Rothamsted Research Centre in the United Kingdom say the
scents that repel could keep insects away from crops. Those that attract could
be used to lure them into traps.
They have
pioneered the production of tiny molecules which mirror a naturally-occurring scents.
"We
know that many organisms use smell to interact with members of the same species
and to locate hosts of food or to avoid attack from parasites," said chemistry
professor Rudolf Allemann, who led the research.
"However,
the difficulty is that scientifically smell molecules are often extremely
volatile, chemically unstable and expensive to recreate.
“This
means that, until now, progress has been extremely slow in recreating smells
that are similar to the original.”
The
researchers were able to make insect repellent scent molecules which are
structurally different but functionally similar to the original.
