[HOME ] [ABOUT] [PHOTOS] [VIDEO] [BLOG] [HOUSTON] [TEXAS] [U.S. NEWS] [WORLD NEWS] [SPORTS] [POP CULTURE] [CONTACT]
Bill and Melinda Gates to fight malaria in Africa using smelly socks
by Joseph Ernest July 13, 2011
Newscast Media AUSTIN, Texas -- A Tanzanian doctor has developed an innovative trap that attracts and kills mosquitoes with the smell of dirty socks. Dr. Fredros Okumu and his scientific team at the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania have learned that smelly socks attract four times more mosquitoes than a human being. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation together with Grand Challenges Canada, are funding the project in order to fight malaria in Africa.
Dutch scientist Dr. Bart Knols first discovered mosquitoes were attracted to foot odor by standing in a dark room naked and examining where he was bitten, said Dr. Fredros Okumu, the head of the research project at Tanzania's Ifakara Health Institute. But over the following 15 years, researchers struggled to put the knowledge to use.
Then Okumu discovered that the stinky smell — which he replicates using a careful blend of eight chemicals — attracts mosquitoes to a trap where they can be poisoned. The odor of human feet attracted four times as many mosquitoes as a human volunteer and the poison can kill up to 95 percent of mosquitoes, he said.
Okumu received an initial grant of $100,000 to help his research two years ago. Now the project has been awarded an additional $775,000 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Grand Challenges Canada to conduct more research on how the traps should be used and whether they can be produced affordably.
The current traps are expensive prototypes but Okumu hopes to produce affordable traps that can be sold for between $4 and $27 each. He said they hoped to develop the devices so they would work at the ratio of 20 traps for every 1,000 people.
The "Smelly Socks Project" is one of many innovative projects that Bill Gates and his foundation are funding to fight tropical diseases. Below are some innovative ideas that have been funded.
To keep feeding their innovation engine with creative ideas, Bill Gates Foundation continues to seek new applicants - especially those from developing countries whose direct experience can guide and tailor solutions to be most suitable for those most in need.
If you have a great idea for global health and development, check the GCE website for calls for proposals. Your idea may be just what we are looking for. Do you know someone who has a great idea? Let them know about GCE as well. GCE Round 8 will begin accepting applications on September 7, 2011.
|
|
Join the Newscast Media social networks
for current events and multimedia content.
Copyright© Newscast Media. All Rights Reserved. Terms and Privacy Policy