UC student research targets tick-borne illness

In UC College of Arts and Sciences Professor Joshua Benoit's lab, doctoral student Kosisochukwu Onyeagba is studying how to exploit a tick's ability to sense humidity to kill them. Ticks use a specialized organ to find refuge to survive dry conditions.

But if researchers find a way to disrupt the organ, the tick will die from dehydration.

“The idea is to outsmart them, not just eliminate them,” Onyeagba told the Guardian. “We’re targeting behavior, not biology. No toxicity. No resistance.”

Nearly a half-million people in the United States contract Lyme disease each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease is most prevalent in the Northeast but it has been reported in all 50 states.

Onyeagba was a co-author on a study published in BioRxix, a pre-print server that allows researchers to share results and solicit feedback before pursuing publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Read the Guardian story.

Featured image at top: UC biology students are studying ways to prevent tick-borne illness. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II/UC