SentiSearch, Inc. (SSRC)

[e-ore]

From Bayer Crop Science homepage. Click on "April 25: World Malaria Day" story, then click on "Research for new molecules for efficient insect control:"

Search for new molecules for efficient insect control

Another approach for efficient insect and malaria control is the search for new molecules. An important project in this conjunction is a two-year research agreement with SentiSearch Inc. to cooperate in the identification of new molecules targeting odorant receptors in insects.

This project will build on the groundbreaking research carried out by Drs. Richard Axel and Leslie Vosshall, who discovered chemosensory receptors that are responsible for odor perception. Professor Axel was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his groundbreaking studies on olfactory perception.

The aim of this collaboration, which also involves arrangements with Columbia University and Rockefeller University, is to develop innovative solutions to improve control of malaria and dengue fever in countries where these diseases are endemic.

Bayer CropScience will contribute to this project its extensive library of compounds, screening capabilities and its experience in chemical synthesis and the development of insecticides. In turn, SentiSearch and the Universities will together provide proprietary assay technologies and knowledge in the field of chemoreception in insects. This will enable Bayer CropScience to use these assays to identify compounds which could modify the activity of insect odor receptors.

Various insect behaviors are guided by the sense of smell, including the ability to locate food, humans, animals, and mating partners. Mosquitoes, which transmit dangerous tropical diseases to humans, use the CO2 content of exhaled air and other host odors to locate their hosts. The aim is for the new molecules to block the relevant receptors, which would prevent the insect from perceiving human odors.

http://www.bayercropscience.com/