Research Provides Clues for New Tick Repellent
Written by UMass Amherst senior biology major, Cayla McGonigle
Ticks can spread microbes to people and cause serious diseases from their bites. So how do you protect yourself from these tiny creatures when you spend time outside? Some people wear protective clothing and do tick checks—both of which are recommended steps for preventing bites. We all know that insect repellents are a great way to keep pests off, but they’re not just for mosquitoes and flies! Bug sprays that contain DEET also work pretty well with most tick species, but DEET is still not ideal. We need something that’s more effective, pleasant, and safe, and ideally something natural.
NEWVEC researchers outline early steps in identifying a new, natural tick repellent in the recent publication “Exploiting a Natural Instance of Vertebrae-posed Chemical Aposematism: Repellency of Ixodes scapularis with (E)-oct-2-enal,” in the journal PLOS One. They tested a chemical that is found in the sweat of donkeys (yes, donkeys) and found that it was really effective against ticks, and in some cases more effective than DEET. At this point, should we be trying to smell more like donkeys to protect us from ticks? No, we should still be using commercially available products like DEET or IR3535. This work by NEWVEC is a foundational step developing this compound into a suitable form for use. It is also important for our understanding of what kind of similar compounds we can look at for even more effective sprays.
