Product/Service Development

James Tibenderana and colleagues of the Malaria Consortium in the United Kingdom are adapting a "community dialogue" approach to build trust between communities and the health system in Mozambique in order to boost participation in Mass Drug Administration (MDA) programs against neglected tropical diseases. Low participation in MDA programs is thought to be caused by negative local perceptions of these diseases and a limited understanding of the goals of MDAs.

Robert Gorkin of the University of Wollongong in Australia is developing tough hydrogels as an alternative material to latex for making male condoms with enhanced tactile (touch) sensitivity to improve sexual experience. Tough hydrogels are highly elastic and mechanically tough materials. Unlike latex, they can increase sensitivity to touch, incorporate lubrication, and be coupled to other components, such as stimulants and antiviral drugs.

Caroline Ochieng of the Stockholm Environment Institute in Sweden is evaluating an approach to stimulate women in Kenya to regularly visit health clinics during pregnancy and after birth to improve maternal health. Currently, the majority visits only once, and infant and maternal mortality are high. To encourage the women to keep additional appointments they will give them a health credit voucher that can be exchanged for a specific cash amount or retained for a subsequent appointment, for up to four appointments, when they receive another voucher worth twice as much.

L. David Sibley at Washington University School of Medicine in the U.S. is developing a long-term in vitro intestinal epithelial culture system for the intracellular parasite Cryptosporidium, which causes severe diarrheal disease in both humans and animals, and is refractory to many anti-parasitic drugs. Currently, Cryptosporidium can only be grown in infected calves or in short-term in vitro cultures, which cannot be used for the high-throughput chemical screens needed to identify new drugs.

Lakshminarayanan Ragupathy of HLL Lifecare Ltd. in India will improve the safety and appeal of male condoms by incorporating graphene into existing natural rubber latex condoms. Graphene is a single-layer, crystalline form of carbon that is highly elastic and very strong. And, unlike latex, it also conducts heat. Mixing graphene with existing condom material should lead to stronger, thinner, heat-conducting condoms that are less noticeable for users, and allow for the incorporation of drugs and compounds that can protect against sexually transmitted diseases or enhance sexual experience.

James Rogers of aPEEL Technology in the U.S. is developing a molecular camouflage that uses plant extracts to create an edible, ultrathin barrier that can be applied to harvested crops to extend their shelf-life without refrigeration and protect them from being eaten by pests. In Phase I, they discovered that highly cross-linked cutin-like polyesters made the best coating material for plants.

Johnathan Dalzell of Queen's University Belfast in the United Kingdom will improve food crop productivity particularly for small hold subsistence farmers by reducing the losses caused by pathogenic nematode worms, which are estimated to cost around $125 billion per year globally. These pathogenic worms absorb small proteins called neuropeptides from their external environment directly into their central nervous system, which can influence their movement and sensory behavior. They will exploit this process to destroy the worms.

Ron Frezieres of the California Family Health Council in the U.S. along with Max Abadi of Unique International in Colombia and I.MAXX Inc. in the U.S. are developing a stronger and thinner male condom made of polyethylene to promote condom use. Polyethylene is a non-toxic and hypoallergenic material that wraps and clings rather than squeezes, thereby enhancing sensation and enabling easier application.

Charles Opperman and Julie A. Willoughby of North Carolina State University in the U.S. worked to develop a low-cost biodegradable paper substrate containing nanoparticles for the controlled release of active compounds as a seed treatment against crop-destroying pests. The seeds will be wrapped in the paper during planting. This project's Phase I research tested different types of paper, and banana paper was selected for optimum release of an anthelminthic compound and ability to protect crops without affecting plant growth.

Wolf Frommer of the Carnegie Institution for Science in the U.S., along with Bing Yang of Iowa State University and Frank White of Kansas State University will modify rice to be stably resistant to all strains of a major rice pathogen. Rice bacterial blight can cause up to 60% loss of yield in Asia and there are currently no effective ways to stop it. These bacteria steal sugar from the rice plants to fuel their own growth. They will block this fundamental mechanism by selectively modifying the DNA sequence of the rice using their TALEN technology.