Recent research has revealed that nitisinone, a drug originally used to treat rare genetic conditions, can fatally disrupt a mosquito’s digestion process after it feeds on human blood containing the substance. According to Science Alert and the University of Notre Dame, the key lies in the drug’s ability to block a vital enzyme in mosquitoes called 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD).

 

Recent research has revealed that nitisinone, a drug originally used to treat rare genetic conditions, can fatally disrupt a mosquito’s digestion process after it feeds on human blood containing the substance. According to Science Alert and the University of Notre Dame, the key lies in the drug’s ability to block a vital enzyme in mosquitoes called 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD).