In stepped Scott Loye Biological Labs out of UC Davis, specifically Scott who has been tutoring us along about the steps and opportunities should the formula be a viable one. After several conversations since July, we got word last week that he had room in his testing lab for a quick, preliminary test with lab mosquitos, and he asked if we wanted to participate. Heck, yeah.
It's a little unassuming place, the lab. We wove through the vegetation and gardens, rain water collection tanks, and stout chicken coup with bunnies and a variety of chickens to a building in the back. Inside were loads of lab stuff and humidifiers and room heaters to make a happy, typical swampy Southern summer day for the mosquitos.
Scott explained the mosquitos they used are the most aggressive variety, to create the most challenging test possible for the repellent. These are the yellow fever mosquitos found in the tropics - the Aeder Aegypti variety.
Next, we sprayed and rubbed in our two formulas, carefully documenting everything in the black leather journal - time, temperature, amount of repellent used, which arm we were selecting to try for which formula. Scott, his assistant Trevor, Randy and I all put Formula B on our left arms, and on the right arm ...
- Scott was control (no repellent)
- Trevor and I had Formula A (the original formula from June, stored for 4 months to learn about shelf life)
- Randy had Formula C ( the original formula that had been exposed to direct summer sun for 4 months).
We tried a couple of times at 15 minute intervals, checking whether the formula improved over time. We counted bugs and 30 minutes after counted bug bites. Interestingly! Mosquitos that don't carry virus have a bit of a sting when you are bitten but the bites don't swell and disappear almost right away, at least for us.
How did the formula do? It failed! Last summer, cousin Ric took some of this to the Everglades with his science class and essentially had the same result - against probably a similar variety of mosquito. These swampy hungry mosquitos are pretty stout.
Scott said his lab has tested all the Deet products, Skin So Soft, and many others on the market, and they often fail this test. He explained a lot of products still provide some marketable relief for most environments.
Any touch of disappointment we felt was replaced by the incredible conversation that followed. We all talked for a couple of hours about the EPA, drug interactions, chemical formulas vs natural essential oils, and the kinds of things to research as the formula moves forward. Things to be wary of. Things to explore. Scientific journals that should be studied. Pharmacology vs Toxicology.
We got around to the topic of Malaria in third world countries and the genuine health crisis going on there. Scott brought out an unmarked vial of repellent that was tested in his lab. He rubbed some into his Control arm and put it in the mosquito tank and we watched in excitement as the mosquitos completely left him alone. He explained the product was being developed specifically for widespread distributed in countries that desperately need it. The ingredients are safe, so no fear of trading short term health gains for long term losses.
It felt like we in the presence of a spark of inspiration that will produce a miracle for hundreds of thousands of people on the other side of the world. Who wouldn't be inspired and invigorated by that? We came away totally inspired to never stop learning and experimenting.
What an awesome, awesome day.
