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Mosquitoes rely on scent to find their victims. So two Connecticut companies,
BioSensory and Bedoukian Research, along with the US Department of Agriculture,
reckoned the best defence against the insects would be to block their sense of
smell (WO 0067570). To find a way to do this, they put mosquitoes in a box, with
a distinctive human scent on one side. Then they wafted various inhibitor
chemicals into the cage until they found one that stopped the mozzies going for
the scent. A methyl alkene called nerolidol turned out to be one of the best
inhibitors. The inventors say the chemical also helps farm animals stay
bite-free and could be delivered in an aerosol.