Zach Devries, an associate professor of urban entomology at the University of Kentucky, is a bug guy. He and his team are working to eradicate cockroaches from homes, and make sure that they don't come back.
"There are some elements that we tackle in the lab that ultimately the idea here is we do something that will impact people," Devries said.
The team is partnering with Housing and Urban Development; they've been collecting specimens from across the country since April.
The bugs are gross, but the research goes well beyond that. According to Devries, they can trigger asthmatic episodes in young children.
"They come off in their feces, their bodies break down, from various glands and secretions all kinds of allergens and these will start accumulating in our homes," he said.
Common insecticide does nothing, and using it allows the vermin to develop a resistance. Instead, it has to be ingested.
"Finding every last cockroach in a home is impossible, we need something that's going to work after we're gone, we need something that's going to stick around and keep killing the roaches," Devries said.
So for now, the team will continue working for the next three to eradicate the cockroach from homes.
"Nobody should be living in a home that has cockroaches," Devries said.
