I-Corps: Higher-potency Insecticidal Dusts by Solid-State Transformation

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发杀虫配方，延长目前因广泛耐药性而失效的活性成分的寿命。对外源杀虫化学物质的抗性的发展迫使需要发明具有新的作用机制的新活性成分。拟议的技术的目标是提供更有效的配方，可能有助于重新利用以前被认为不再有效的现有杀虫剂。重新配制已知的杀虫化合物以提高功效可能是开发昂贵的新活性成分的一种替代方法。此外，以更生物利用的形式重新配制已知的杀虫化合物可能更便宜、风险更小、更环保、更快。很少有工程或研发来替代现有产品。这一努力的成果广泛适用于城市害虫防治、宠物保护、农业和公共卫生等领域。新产品的市场范围从控制致命的蚊子（美国几十年来首次证实疟疾）到消灭臭虫，或者简单的宠物项圈。通常在五金店销售的产品可以通过建议的流程重新设计。I-Corps项目的基础是开发杀虫化学配方，使用以前未发现的活性结晶形式的接触性杀虫剂。作为虫害防治主要手段的接触性杀虫剂正在失效，原因是病媒种群普遍产生抗药性，这是一项重大的公共卫生挑战。在臭虫和蟑螂等城市害虫中也发现了抗药性。对接触起作用的杀虫剂通常涉及晶体，但尚未研究利用同一化合物的不同晶体的相对活性。这项提议的技术已经被证明可以克服来自西非的耐药疟疾蚊子的耐药性。在这项研究中，常见的杀虫剂溴氰菊酯被重新配制成含有一种新的固体形式的有效成分分散在粉笔上。该新型固体形态是通过一种简单而廉价的方法原位制备的，可以提高溴氰菊酯对多种节肢动物的功效。提出的技术可能会提高用溴氰菊酯消灭昆虫的能力，并克服那些影响疾病预防的具有令人烦恼的抵抗力的生物体。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of insecticidal formulations that extend the life of current active ingredients that are failing due to widespread resistance. The development of resistance to exogenous insecticidal chemicalsforces the need to invent new active ingredients with new mechanisms of action. The goal of the proposed technology is to provide more effective formulations that may serve to repurpose existing insecticides that were earlier thought to no longer be effective. Reformulating known insecticidal compounds to increase efficacy may be an alternative to the costly development of new active ingredients. Further, reformulating known insecticidal compounds in more bioavailable forms may be cheaper, less risky, greener, and faster. Little engineering or research and development to replace existing products. The outcomes of this endeavor are broadly applicable to the control of urban pests, pet protection, agriculture, and public health. Markets for new products extend from deadly mosquito control (malaria has been confirmed in the United States for the first time in decades) to bed bug eradication, or simple pet collars. Products commonly sold in hardware stores may be reengineered by the proposed process. This I-Corps project is based on the development of insecticidal chemical formulations that employ activated crystalline forms of contact insecticides that have not been previously discovered. Contact insecticides that are the mainstays of pest control are failing due to widespread resistance among vector populations, a major public health challenge. Insecticide resistance also has been found in urban pests such as bedbugs and cockroaches. Insecticides that work on contact often involve crystals, but exploiting the relative activity of different crystals of the same compound has not been investigated. The proposed technology has been shown to overcome resistance among resistant malarial mosquitoes from West Africa. In this study, the common insecticide deltamethrin was reformulated to contain a new solid form of the active ingredient dispersed on chalk. The new solid form is prepared in situ by a simple and inexpensive method that may enhance deltamethrin’s efficacy against a wide variety of arthropods. The proposed technology may enhance the ability to eliminate insects with deltamethrin, and overcome organisms with vexing resistance that compromises disease prophylaxis.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.