Bacterial compounds may be as good as DEET at repelling mosquitoes
The bacterium that produces these molecules lives in symbiosis with soil nematodes
![Aedes aegypti mosquito](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/011619_LH_mosquito-repellant_feat_rev.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
SKEETER STYMIED The Aedes aegypti mosquito can transmit viral diseases like Zika and dengue. Molecules produced by an insect-killing bacteria appear to keep these mosquitoes at bay as effectively as DEET.
Guilherme Omella Mainieri/Alamy Stock Photo