MOSQUITO SPIT AS A BLOOD THINNING AGENT? COULD BE!

Yes, you are reading that right. Scientists are really looking at mosquito spit and its ability to prevent blood clots in humans. Actually, according to Sciencemag.org, they have been studying it a long time.

When a mosquito bites it needs to make blood flow quickly and freely. It does this by injecting something called anophelines into the human. This mixture of proteins does a great job for the mosquito so scientists have often wondered how to make it work as a blood thinning agent in humans. However, up to this point, once extracted it’s abilities just haven’t held up in the lab.

MOSQUITO SALIVA IS AN ANTICOAGULANT

Mosquito saliva research has taken a new turn. Scientists have added a sulfate that reacts with the amino acids in the anophelines. This addition “strengthened the electrostatic forces between the proteins, making them better able to bind to the enzyme in blood plasma that causes clotting.” At this point, the newly modified mosquito spit has only been tested on mice, but the anophelines were 100 times more effective than those that were not modified. The researchers also found it more effective than a substance called hirudin. Hirudin is a blood thinning agent made from a substance pulled from the salivary glands of leeches that is already being used in clinical settings. Due to the positive performance of the modified proteins, this group is planning to create a blood thinning agent out of the mosquito spit that will eventually be used in humans to treat and prevent blood clots.

It’s hard to believe that you might find something that useful and positive from a mosquito, but considering how many of them there are, it would be great! The idea of taking what we consider a fairly large nuisance and finding a helpful purpose for it gives a whole new angle on the idea of “repurposing”.

And yet at Mosquito Squad of Leominster, we are still planning to focus on getting rid of these little pests. Mosquitoes carry disease and their ability to harm needs no research to prove. Mosquitoes are the deadliest animal on earth. So while the scientists do their thing we will do ours: help protect your from mosquitoes. Whether it’s our simple barrier treatment, our misting systems, or our event sprays for your upcoming event (graduation is around the corner), we are ready and waiting for the call to schedule it. Call us today!