TBMG is an independent academic organisation centred in Glossop, Derbyshire, U.K. which undertakes research in the field of theoretical biology and medicine.
Prevention of insect bites
Existing approaches to the prevention of insect bites in Scotland
Biting insects, notably midges and clegs, beset residents and visitors in the Scottish Highlands, and some people are badly affected by them. There is allegedly a negative effect on tourism, which is economically essential for the region. Several products are available to counter the insects’ assaults, but these are less than 100% effective. They are of three kinds:-
(1) repellents for individual use, usually creams to apply to the skin;
(2) repellents for use in small areas such as the insides of caravans, usually aromatic candles;
(3) traps.
Type (1) methods are typically unpleasant to use. They are sticky, oily and often smelly, and they tend to soil clothes. They are usually effective only for the areas of skin directly treated. Type (2) methods are notoriously ineffective. Type (3) has excited the greatest recent interest and investment (notably from Calor, Scotland). The latest trap designs use aliphatic alcohols to lure the insects into electrified nets. These are effective over areas of more than 100 square metres, but (a) they do not protect individuals outside that range, (b) they do not eliminate every midge –still less every cleg – within the range, (c) they are rather expensive to maintain.
Our dietary preventative
The preventative comprises common biochemicals that can already be purchased over the counter from a pharmacy. It is taken orally, is cheap, is not unpleasant for the user or for anyone else, has only a trivial side effect (which might be eliminated if the mixture can be simplified), and affords apparently 100% protection to all users, wherever they go, if they follow the dosage regime (see below). The regime is straightforward: the user starts to take the preventative 24 hours before entering the insect-infested area, takes it twice a day throughout the time of residence, and stops taking on leaving the region.
Summary of research and development process
The preventative was developed sporadically over the period 1976-96. The idea received a John Logie Baird Award in 1999 and in that year was granted a free one-year patent, now expired.
We noted during the early 1970s that Highland insects (various midge species, and clegs) bit some people much more frequently than others. An obvious explanatory hypothesis suggested itself. We addressed two questions arising from this hypothesis:-
(1) What differences in human skin secretions make the insects partially selective?
(2) What causes these differences in secretions?
Essentially, the answer to (1) proved to be quantities of short and medium-chain unsaturated aliphatic alcohols. Interestingly, the designers of some commercial insect traps have obtained similar results: they use alcohols such as octen-3-ol as attractants.
As for question (2), the causes were presumably either genetic or dietary. The former seemed unlikely because closely-related individuals (siblings, parents and children) differed markedly in the extent to which they suffered insect bites. We therefore asked people about their dietary habits, including any supplements they took regularly. Details from 153 informants revealed a statistically strong association between the use of certain supplements and resistance against insect bites.
A blinded field trial with 30 volunteers showed that appropriate doses of these supplements virtually eliminated the appearance of unsaturated aliphatic alcohols in the skin. The effect was complete within 24 hours and was sustained as long as the supplements were taken. The volunteers then took part in a preliminary blind trial, spending a week in the West Highlands in June 1996. Nineteen received the preventative, and eleven received a placebo. None of the nineteen users of the preventative received a single bite during the entire week. All eleven placebo users were bitten, and two reacted so badly that they had to leave (one after 3 days, one after 5).
Potential for exploitation
To date, there has been no disclosure of this idea, and no commercial exploitation. We will be happy to discuss possible contracts with interested parties.