Pest Control Au’ Naturale

Reported July, 2007

WOOSTER, Ohio (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Fruits and veggies are good for us, but the chemical pesticides they're sprayed with are not. Now, scientists are looking at ways to use the food chain to naturally battle bugs.

Nematodes are microscopic roundworms that live in the soil and are waging war on pests. Parwinder Grewal, Ph.D., a nematologist from The Ohio State University, is studying how to use them. "Among the biocontrol agents, nematodes are the most intensely researched nematodes because potential is seen," Dr. Grewal says.

The nematode first tracks down an insect, invades its body, releases bacteria, and it is dead within 48 hours. The nematode eats the bacteria and insect to mature into an adult to reproduce hundreds of thousands of nematodes looking for a new bug. “So their life cycle continues by finding newer insects,” Dr. Grewal says.

The are advantages of using nematodes over chemical sprayers. First, they're already part of the ecosystem and are natural -- and they don't pose harm to people and wildlife. So, it's cheaper in the long term. "We cannot keep producing chemical pesticides,” Dr. Grewal says.

Nematodes can be used with standard sprayers, and could even be shipped to you at home -- collected in a sponge. The main limitation is shelf life. Right now, nematodes only last about five months but scientists are working to get that to a year. Dr. Grewal says nematodes could take care of about 60 percent of soil pests. They're now looking to isolate certain genes to make them even more effective.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Dr. Parwinder Grewal
Department of Entomology
The Ohio State University

grewal.4@osu.edu

Skaters defy the law of gravity! How do they do it? We’ll break it down.

Pizza dough that can actually improve your health? It’s all in how you cook it.

Bees are dying off in record numbers. It’s a crisis that could impact us all at the grocery store.

It’s pest control with no chemicals needed! We’ll show you how some farmers are using bugs to zap bugs.

No engine, no transmission and no gas needed! We’ll show you what keeps this new-age bus moving.

X-ray vision is no longer just for the movies. New technology is ringing superpowers to real life.

Modern medicine is unwrapping ancient mysteries. Now scientists can find out what’s inside a mummy’s tomb.

Meet the man who helped to invent your computer, the keyboard and your printer … what’s he up to next?

Do your arms ache? Hands hurt? Is it Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or something else?

Remembering your past may go hand-in-hand with envisioning your future … we’ll show you how one affects the other.

? They may look alike, but how can one be healthy and the other sick?.

Look up in the sky! You may just see a double star … or is it? A spectacular phenomenon happens this month. We’ll show you what to look for.