“Watch your back, DEET. There’s a new form of mosquito control in town — one that involves olfactory trickery, genetic engineering and a deadly infectious fungus.

Researchers reported last week in the journal Nature Microbiology that Metarhizium — a fungus already used to control pests — can be genetically engineered to produce so much of a sweet-smelling substance that it is virtually irresistible to mosquitoes. When they laced traps with those fungi, 90 percent to 100 percent of mosquitoes were killed in lab experiments. The scientists say this may provide an affordable, scalable and more ecologically friendly way to quell the bloodsucking insects.”

From New York Times.