Consultation
On May 14th 2015, Some of ZJU-China iGEMers went to Prof. Mo Jianchu’s office to consult about our project. We asked many questions about termites and termite control.
iGEMers: Termites have different categories. Could you please give a brief introduction to these categories?
Prof. Mo: There are two main termite categories that are harmful to humans—Odontotermes and Cyptotermes. These termites transfer food by trophallaxis (workers give food to the reproductive, soldiers and the larvae). He recommends that we make use of this feature.
iGEMers: The damage caused by termites is very severe. Could you please give us some specific data to explain the severity?
Prof. Mo: Termite is a very ancient insect which almost occupies every corner of tropical and subtropical regions. Termites feed on woods, and digest lignocellulose, so when they can destroy housing construction, landscaping and other commercial products. It is reported that, the direct loss induced by termites is beyond 220 billion dollars per year.
iGEMers: The methods for termite control still need to be improved. So, what are the shortcomings of the current strategies?
Prof. Mo: Chemical pesticides and baiting systems are the two main approaches of termite control. Recently, the chemical pesticides cause great health and environment concerns. Some of the pesticides are even forbidden by the government. Baiting systems, on the other hand, are not very efficient. It takes as long as one year to kill a nest of termites by baiting systems. Thus, we are still searching for a better solution.
iGEMers: If we want to choose a bio product to control termites, which product do you recommend?
Prof. Mo: I recommend avermectins. Avermenctins is very effective in killing termites and it is eco-friendly. It has been proved that large animals (e.g. pigs, dog…) are not poisoned after eating avermectins. However, the price of chemically synthetic avermectins is terribly high—625$/g! Thus, if the engineered bacteria can biosynthesize avermectins we can save a large sum of money in producing avermectins.
iGEMers: Do you think we should design a device?
Prof. Mo: Yes. You’d better design a device to place the toxins, which ensures that it will affect other organisms.
Figure 1: ZJU-China iGEMers are consulting Prof. Mo
On July 24th 2015, some ZJU-China iGEMers went to Hangzhou Institute of Termite Prevention And Management to consult the staff there.
Figure 2: Hangzhou Institute of Termite Prevention And Management
iGEMers: Could you please introduce the termite damage in Hangzhou?
Officer: The damage of termites in Hangzhou is very severe. For example, 45.5% historic buildings in Hangzhou are threatened by termites. Among the different kinds of termites, Cytoptermes Formosanus is the most destructive category. They showed us some nest samples of Cytoptermes Formosanus.
Figure 3: The precious books destroyed by termites
Figure 4: A nest sample of Cytoptermes Formosanus
iGEMers asked an expert on termite control device: Could you please give us some advice on our device?
The expert: Your device should be designed to possess the functions to detect and kill termites. You’d better learn about some current devices and try to innovate!
iGEMers: In your opinions, what else functions do the CNC coat have?
The expert: Actually, if the concentration of avermectins is too high, termites will avoid eating avermetins, because of high-concentration avoidance. The CNC coat can reduce the odor of avermectins, so the termites will the avermectins even if the concentration is high.
Figure 5: an iGEMer is consulting a staff
