SBIR Phase I: A Paradigm Shift in Vector Control: Targeted Larvicides

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will be a significant improvement in the control of dangerous mosquitoes that transmit serious diseases to humans, including Zika fever, malaria, encephalitis, chikungunya, and dengue fever. This project will generate a novel larvicide directed against the larvae of harmful mosquitoes that live in water. The larvicide is combined with an efficient lure to generate effective bait-and-kill stations that will target only harmful mosquito species. An efficient, inexpensive, safe product to kill mosquito larvae will improve public health since it will greatly reduce the number of adult mosquitoes capable of infecting humans with diseases. The product will protect non-target species and will not contaminate the water with toxins. This project incorporates several new technologies that are also applicable to the future control of other insect pest species, including a novel design system to produce lures that attract mosquito larvae to bait stations, a new method to kill insect larvae while leaving other species unharmed, and a new method to package the control product. The product and the methods discussed are new, address unmet health and safety needs in several countries, and are expected to have widespread market appeal. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are focused on providing novel attractants for the aquatic larvae of Aedes aegypti and other harmful mosquitos, and combining these lures with a novel larvicide that will eradicate the targeted larvae without contaminating the water column with insecticide or harming non-target species. The mosquito?s range is expanding and traditional control methods are becoming problematic. An effective bait-and-kill device would avoid the wide dispersal of broad-range insecticides and protect the environment, beneficial species, and humans. However, this device requires an efficient attractant to selectively lure mosquito larvae and an effectual, yet selective, larvicide that will not harm non-target species or contaminate the water. These are therefore the foci of this project. This project incorporates several novel approaches to develop a microencapsulated nanoparticle that will function as a targeted larvicide. To achieve the stated goals, compounds that strongly attract mosquito larvae will be combined with a nonpoisonous polymer larvicide that is active only uponingestion by the larvae. The anticipated end product is a bait-and-kill device for A. aegypti larvae that would allow a shift away from broad-spectrum insecticides to a more targeted, responsible control methodology. The platform technologies are applicable to other species in the future.