One morning during my undergraduate chemistry course I arrived at the organic chemistry teaching laboratory to be informed that today we would be synthesising N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide, more commonly known as DEET, which is the most widely used active ingredient in commercial insect repellents. At the time, the significance of what I was making (or trying to make!) was lost on me. My focus was on trying to get the reaction to work in the time I had available before the laboratory shut. Thinking back now though, that experiment represented something really important: pest-repellent chemicals such as DEET have, for many years, been crucial in controlling the spread of mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue.
Malaria and dengue are life-threatening conditions, normally spread to humans via the bites of infected mosquitoes. Current statistics make for difficult reading: according to the World Health Organization, globally in 2022 there were an estimated 249 million malaria cases and 608,000 malaria deaths, whilst about half the world's population is now at risk of dengue with an estimated 100-400 million infections occurring each year₂
However, pest repellents containing chemicals such as DEET have a number of disadvantages. For example, they are only effective for a short period of time and so have to be reapplied regularly to maintain protection, they are usually harsh solvents and so can cause damage to any fabrics and surfaces they come into contact with, they can have a negative impact on non-target organisms such as pollinators, and the large-scale production processes required for their synthesis are not particularly environmentally-friendly.
Fortunately, Cambridge-based start-up company BugBiome has set out to transform the pest control industry to try to address the various problems caused by current products using a much more sustainable approach based upon microbes.
During her PhD at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, CEO Dr Alicia Showering studied differences in the skin microbiome and became interested in how these differences are associated with our attractiveness to mosquitoes, and how this then influences whether they choose to bite us. Based upon the concept of harnessing the skin microbiome of people who are naturally resistant to mosquitoes, Dr Showering co-founded BugBiome in 2021 with CCO Chris Mosedale, a biologist with a background in commercialising early stage biotechnology. Since then the company has expanded and the team now includes several microbiologists and entomologists.
According to BugBiome, the company aims to identify, using the high-throughput screening platform that they have developed in-house, beneficial microbes that naturally repel pests either on human/animal skin or a plant surface, and create pest-repellent products based upon these microbes, with an initial focus on three key pests: Aedes mosquitoes, aphids and cabbage stem flea beetles. Thus, not only are the efforts of BugBiome directed at providing natural pest repellents for use on human and animal skin (e.g. for protection against mosquito bites), the technology is also being extended to crop enhancement and protection tools (e.g. pesticides), thereby also helping to address the global issue of feeding the ever-increasing population in a sustainable manner.
It is clear that BugBiome is racing ahead, having recently closed a pre-seed funding roundsecuring £310,000 of investment from Cambridge Angels and Discovery Park Ventures. This investment also unlocked £330,000 of funding in the form of an Engineering Biology Grant from Innovate UK to identify new methods to control aphids in crop protection. Following their recent investment in the company, Discovery Park Ventures said: "BugBiome's ground-breaking research addresses a critical aspect of the global focus on feeding the population sustainably and enhancing crop protection. Our investment in BugBiome makes it our tenth portfolio company and underscores the company's potential to make a significant and sustainable impact in the agricultural sector and human health."
The pioneering efforts of BugBiome have not gone unnoticed in the wider Cambridge community either. Earlier this year, Dr Showering featured in the 2024 "21toWatch" list, a campaign that showcases outstanding talent across Cambridge and the East of England's science and technology industries₄. BugBiome was also recently awarded "Highly Commended" in the "One to Watch" category at the Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards 2024
Perhaps one day future undergraduate chemists will arrive at their teaching laboratories to be told that they will be working not on DEET but on microbial pest repellents. Until then, I look forward to following BugBiome's progress into providing a sustainable alternative to current pest control methods.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.