Over half of the world’s population is at risk from vector-borne diseases (those from mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and such), as per the World Health Organisation (WHO). Malaria claims 200 million victims yearly, with over 400,000 lives lost, mostly children under five. Zika virus emerges as a global health emergency, while Dengue Fever’s death toll has surged 30-fold in 50 years. It’s a grim note to start the week on, but a notable one nonetheless.

Now, with climate change and unpredictable weather patterns, these suckers have found broader ground to breed on, compelling companies to take charge and derive solutions to keep people safe.

AgTech development company Bio-Gene Technology (ASX: BGT) is one such problem-solver. The Company, specialising in developing novel insecticides, has had its proprietary technology, Flavocide (used to deter grain pests) and Qcide (to repel household and agricultural pests, as well as mites and spiders), selected to participate in a significant US program to address on-going issues of vector-borne diseases.

The program will be funded by the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) and conducted by the Midwest Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Disease (CE-VBD) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Agricultural & Life Sciences and School of Veterinary Medicine.

Chief Executive Officer of Bio-Gene, Richard Jagger, said, “We are delighted to participate in this major study into improving the control of vectors, and more specifically ticks. To have our technology selected for inclusion in a world leading study into new vector control technologies will help validate the potential of BGT products in this field.”

The CDC will invest $10 million over five years in the program, which includes several well-known universities in the United States like the University of Wisconsin Madison, along with partners at Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, and Indiana universities. Purdue University, which has a significant understanding of Bio-Gene’s technology based on their history of collaboration, is also involved.

Bio-Gene will collaborate with researchers from MCE-VBD to study how Flavocide and Qcide can be used to control diseases transmitted by insects, including those caused by tick-borne pathogens like Borrelia burgdorferi (known as Lyme disease), which is the most common insect-borne disease in the USA transmitted through the bites of infected blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis).

Pointing to the role of climate change in reimagining our ecosystem as we knew it, Jagger added, “Public health is a prominent global issue. With climate change impacting the habitable range of vectors such as ticks, and current chemistry becoming less efficient due to resistance, finding new products is more important than ever. As this program is funded with a significant investment from the CDC, it shows how critical the issue of vector control is and the threat to public health it represents.”

Purdue University, led by Professor Catherine Hill, who heads the Department of Entomology and is renowned for her program focused on controlling insect-borne diseases that pose a threat to public health and biosecurity, will be in charge of researching Bio-Gene’s molecules. Purdue University has been working with the Company for a long time and has extensive knowledge of its products, understanding how it functions and its potential for efficiently controlling disease-carrying insects.

The program will begin soon, and Bio-Gene plans to use the outcomes to engage in discussions with researchers and potential commercial partners.