College of Sciences Newsletter

Edition 12

May 1, 2002

A New Patent Awarded

Old Dominion University honored Dr. Daniel Sonenshine recently for a patent that he, along with colleagues from the University of Florida, received in December 2001 for a fake female deer tick. This deer tick, laced with pheromones to attract male deer ticks, contains a substance that kills the harmful insects that carry Lyme disease. Ticks pose a major problem to humans and agriculture besides causing infection and the spread of disease. They are responsible for multimillion-dollar losses each year in the U. S. cattle industry.

Sonenshine is presently working on another decoy aimed at preventing the spread of Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. This plastic tick will include substances designed to change the biological blueprint of its male visitors to that of a dog tick, which does not infect humans with those diseases as do deer ticks.

In 1989, Sonenshine and his co-inventor team received their first patent for a decoy female tick. This device, which attracted male ticks, greatly reduced the amount of poisonous chemicals required to kill them. In 1992, the group received a patent for another decoy to attract Ixodid hard ticks and disrupt the males’ normal mating routines.

For additional information on Dr. Sonenshine or his research, consult the Department of Biological Sciences at 757-683-3595 or request the spring 2002 edition of Catalyst from the Scire editor.