Tomato compound repels mosquitos

North Carolina State University has obtained a patent for a chemical that could become a safer, more effective bug repellent.

In search of a mosquito repellant, scientists there were studying synthetic versions of a protein normally found in the gut of larval mosquitoes, where it makes the larvae stop eating at the appropriate time.

When team member R. Michael Roe looked at the molecular shape of the proteins, he noticed that their structure was similar to a compound in tomatoes that protects them from plant-eating insects.