Team:Aix-Marseille/Public Engagement
Bed bugs infestations are increasing each and every year in Marseille and all over the world. The grounds of our breaking bugs project was that heavy increase. We wanted to help our local community as well as the whole world. We engaged in our society by going to as many fairs and gatherings as possible, with three main messages to deliver:
What is iGEM?
What are bed bugs and how to prevent infestations?
Engaging the public in the breaking bugs project.
Science market
Created in 2003, the science market is a place to exchange ideas and popularize science using interactive, accessible, and fun activities. The aim is to sharpen the scientific knowledge of the general public. At the market, we had two main products to sell to the public: synthetic biology and the current challenges, and the breaking bugs project.
We met kids and adults, succeeded in delivering our ideas, and got multiple feedbacks on the project. Furthermore, we met with researchers with whom we discussed the bioethics challenges surrounding our plan.
Science festival
The fête de la science or science festival is a national event that promotes scientific culture and, in a festive setting, exchanges between science and society! Led for 27 years by the French ministry of higher education, research, and innovation, it is a meeting point between the general public and the actors of science who through experimentation, debate, and exchange, offer the opportunity to build new knowledge and to form opinions about the issues facing our society.
To cover the most cities as possible, science villages are set up where universities, research institutes, associations, and companies occupy stands, each of them bringing several interactive experimentations. It is the diversity that contributes to the wealth and success of the festival.
Social housing union convention
The social housing union is a confederation which gathers all the French social landlords ie about 730 organisms managing 4.5 millions of housing. The sector, like many others, is confronted to bed bugs infestations. The union organized its national congress in Marseille on the 9th, 10th and 11th of October, bringing together around 22,000 people over 3 days and 10,000 social housing professionals. The congress was covered by about 90 journalists. Following our nationwide advertisement campaign, we got invited to the convention to present the breaking bugs project as an innovative solution to develop, for bed bugs infestations treatment, that can directly impact the inhabitants.
Biotechnology forum
In collaboration with Polytech Marseille, we were able to get a stand at the 19th biotechnology forum. The forum brings together students and professionals. Conferences are held to address the current challenges of biotechnology, which now occupy a major role in the health and environmental sectors. Participants were able to exchange with experts on the latest biotechnology advances. This year, four main topics were addressed: gene therapy, genetically modified organisms, the pharmaceutical industry, and genomics.
Our team took part in the forum with three main goals to achieve:
Promoting synthetic biology through presenting the iGEM organization.
Presenting the breaking bugs project and getting the community's feedback.
Recruiting engineers for next year's iGEM team.
European researchers night
The gathering aims to attract a public that is not familiar with science and awaken the desire to develop and maintain a connection with research after the event.
Through the art of storytelling, we engaged with the public in a game of exchange that enables all participants to critically discuss communication and to come to a better understanding of what research activity entails. Our team had two tales to share with the audience: synthetic biology and the breaking bugs project.
Survey study
Interviews with experts
Reaching out to experts was the key factor in shaping the breaking bugs project. By interviewing them, we had critical evaluations and feedbacks around our work. Furthermore, they pointed out the challenges we might face. We reached out to experts from multiple fields: finance, entomology, entrepreneurship...
Jean-Michel BERENGER
Mr. Jean-Michel BERENGER is one of the leading entomologists in France working on bed bugs. He was a true mentor throughout our whole project. We met with him at the IHU-MI (University Hospital Institute-Mediterranean Infection) in Marseille. He was one of the first person we met for human practices and gave us pointers about bed bugs: the different species, the infestation rates evolution in France and around the world, how to run tests on them, and the current challenges. Here you can find the entire interview he gave us: REUUUUUNIIIOOOONNN MERCREDI 10/10
Later on, we went to him to verify the relevance of our trap and get the proof of concept. Furthermore, he helped us with the trap design in order to find the safest application for future consumers. Mr. BERENGER gave us precious advices to develop our project.
Jean-Louis MONCLERC
Mr. Jean-Louis MONCLERC is an independent consultant and associate professor at Aix-Marseille University. We went to him to learn methods to captivate the sponsors and get them to support our project. Firstly, we presented the iGEM organization and its goals. Then, we talked about our project so he can help us engage the right sponsors. Furthermore, he gave pointers to the team members in charge of funding so they can enhance their productivity and get better results. His expertise and mentorship helped put the members on the right track towards getting the team's budget.
Olivier GREMAUD
Mr. Olivier GREMAUD is the founder of Cynoscan. The company trains dogs so they can quickly detect bed bugs. We reached out to them by email with a series of questions and concerns to help us shape the breaking bugs project. They were very encouraging and brought a collaboration opportunity to the light. The plan is as follows: prior to applying the trap in infested premises, they can intervene with their trained dogs to spot the areas where we can apply the trap. Along these lines, we are targetting the infestation, narrowing down the range of application, and increasing the trap's efficiency.
What is your role and place in Cynoscan? I am the founder of the company and the trainer of detection dogs
How was this company born? Following the needs since the recrudescence of the presence of bed bugs
How, in a few words, would you summarize his activity? All activities related to odorology, specializing in canine bed bug detection
Why did you commit to fighting bed bugs? A friend was a victim in New York and told me that the hotel involved a dog. Knowing my skills, he told me about it. I studied the request and I trained my first dog.
Why did you choose to work with dogs for this job? Dogs are my passion, I have always worked with. For customs and police affairs, for private security, then I specialized in detection.
What aspect of your job do you like best? Is it the relationship with the dogs, the contact with the customer, the real feeling of helping the people affected by the infestations, etc.? ? The relationship with my dogs associated with the relief that is given to the victims of these insects
How was it discovered that it was possible to train dogs to detect bed bugs? Some US states have mandatory annual "pest control" for termites and other insects. Canine detecting companies have long been used there. Demand has broadened the field of research to bed bugs.
How many dogs do you have in your company? Currently we have 5 dogs. But I train almost continuously
What is dog training? It is a daily training based on the relation man / dog and the game. I associate the smell that I want the dog to detect, and when the dog finds it we play together.
How long is it? The complete training lasts approximately 800 to 1000 hours
What is the duration of the "career" of your dogs? There is no official retirement age. It depends on the health of the dog.
Let's say that in general we stop hiring dogs over 8 years old.
Is a dog breed to be preferred over another? I favor hunting-oriented breeds, but I can train any dog if he is a player
Does the dog detect secreted pheromones for bedbugs, or is it something else? It seems so because the dog makes the difference with dead bugs.
How is it that the dog's sense of smell allows this detection? The nose of the dog perceives odors up to 1 million times more diluted than those detectable by the human being so it is easy for him to detect
How does the dog tell you when bedbugs are detected? By a bark? I chose the method that best suits the dog. Most often it is the sitting position.
How accurate are they? Do you report a room, a zone, a piece of furniture, clothes?
The dog can smell a bug.
The area is very precise as long as it is within reach of the dog.
What is the dog-master relationship? Does it work in pairs or can a master intervene with several dogs? For me, it is essential to have a perfect agreement between the dog and the master to have an optimum result.
The dog knows his job, but without the love he has for his master he is not as good.
Is it necessarily the master who trains his dog; or are the two "dog training" and "intervention" trades separate? The two trades are distinct, however a good knowledge of dogs is essential to know how to read his behavior.
A training of the new master with a continuous follow-up by the trainer is essential to keep the quality.
For this we reevaluate our dogs every 6 months. If they do not meet the standards, they leave "at school" with their master
What training / standard studies can work in canine detection?
There is no specific school for canine detection. That said Cynoscan works there ..
Canine teacher training is not enough. It takes many years of field detection experiments to be qualified.
Are there other ways to detect bed bugs? Yes the human eye and there are traps.
If so, what are the advantages of canine detection in comparison? The major advantages are:
Reliability (from 95 to 100%) The rapidity The precision No disassembly to do What are the advantages and disadvantages of canine detection? Advantages :
With preventive controls, avoids infestations before customer complaints Avoids the closing of place as a precaution (loss of turnover) Target the areas to be treated (saving of processing costs) Checks the effectiveness of a treatment Disadvantages:
Requires knowledge of canine education Request a permanent training with a dog professional Can not work 8h a day non stop
BUT ESPECIALLY THE DOG IS NOT A TOOL
What is the average duration of an intervention? Does she need to leave the shelter or take other precautions, perform a "preparation" for the intervention?
On average, a standard hotel room takes 5 minutes, an apartment or house, 5 minutes per room. This is of course an average, as it depends on furniture, carpets, floors, tapestries, etc. etc ....
It is not necessary to leave the accommodation.
A little preparation is useful, like opening the windows, between opening the drawers, giving room to the dog to pass around the furniture and put at its height all the objects to search.
How is a typical intervention? We first have a telephone contact assessment to determine whether the use of the dog is appropriate or not.
Then in the case of an intervention, we follow a control procedure established by Cynoscan to make a systematic control of the premises.
Then a report is established with treatment tips if necessary.
What is the profile of your customers? Do you work more often with individuals or companies? One and the other are often linked because people bring bedbugs in their accommodation during travels and conversely, they bring back ...
It is generally quite divided between the private and the professionals.
How did your customers hear about Cynoscan?
By word of mouth or internet
Do you do more pre-infection interventions or more post-infestation interventions? Unfortunately we often intervene when all the other means have not given satisfaction.
So who if we were upstream the treatments would be faster and less expensive
In which geographical areas do you intervene? Is it at the regional level or at the regional level? We work for international hotel groups, so we operate everywhere.
Do dogs make the route for remote interventions, or does the company have premises spread over the territory? We have regional offices
Can dogs be infested after an intervention? Zero risk does not exist, but it is really very weak because the dogs are in permanent movement. To my knowledge, this has never happened to anyone.
How many interventions do you do each month? We do not have statistics on this subject
Do you bring infested clients to informative bed bug information? Of course, we encourage people to learn about prevention and mechanical treatments
Do you do the "relay" between the customer and the pest control company? By impartiality, we do not work with any pest control companies. We can recommend their intervention, but the choice belongs entirely to the client.
Just as we do not do disinfection ourselves to avoid a conflict of interest.
We therefore have no advantage in telling our guests that bedbugs are present or not.
In your opinion, is the population sufficiently informed and aware of bed bug infestations? Really not at all! There is only shame and prejudice when it is useless.
There is really a lot of work to do about it
In your opinion, can a bed bug trap be complementary to your action as part of preventive measures? Yes, he can signal their presence. We recommend in this case to bring the dog to determine the areas to be treated
How much does a canine detection procedure cost? It varies between 150 and 300 € for an individual and is on offer for professionals according to the number of rooms
How have your customers discovered and used canine detection?
Because they can not get rid of insects after all kinds of treatments
In your opinion, is the technique sufficiently known and used? Clearly not
Do you have an anecdote to tell us? An intervention that has marked you, funny or particularly difficult? A lady had her apartment treated many times with all sorts of different methods but each time she continued to be stung.
Although she left her apartment for global treatments etc ....
When I intervened, the dog was immediately marked his suitcase .... In fact she was walking all the time with the bugs she brought home after each treatment ......
comments The preventive controls for the places of lodging are really useful and must absolutely return in the techniques of fight of the professionals
The private must not hesitate to have their luggage checked on their return trip to prevent an infestation at home.
Finally, people need to understand that it is not a shame to have bed bugs but rather no luck ...
Deal with the problem as quickly as possible to prevent the spread