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New Tick Repellent: Development Through University of Pitt-Johnstown

The Tribune Democrat, Russ O’Reilly, reported on 10.13.2023, “UPJ scientists win grants to develop new tick repellent.” As reported, researchers will be using $100,000 won through the “Pitt Innovation Challenge” to make a novel and commercially available tick repellent (B.I.T.E.) that works by masking carbon dioxide emitted through human skin so that ticks can not detect these emissions. Research will be conducted by four University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown researchers, and may be the first collaborative project in over 20 years between the biology and chemistry departments. 

In addition to the $100,000 grant from the University of Pittsburgh, the team won a $15,000 grant to build an artificial human forearm to test the repellent for effectiveness. If successful, this could help with prevention against Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.


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