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VANCOUVER • Simon Fraser University scientists have discovered the chemical attractants needed to create the world’s first effective and affordable bait-and-trap for bed bugs.

The traps, which they hope will be commercially available next year, might be able to capture enough of the bugs to eliminate a small outbreak, said SFU biology professor Gerhard Gries.

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“You want to look at this as primarily being a detection tool,” Prof. Gries said. “When it’s heavily infested, I would say the insecticide or heat treatment are the best options.”

Prof. Gries worked on the project with his wife, Regine Gries, also a biologist at SFU, who sacrificed blood for the project.

Over years of research, Prof. Regine Gries subjected her arms to approximately 180,000 bed bug bites from a colony kept at the school.

“You can feed it on the blood of chickens or guinea pigs, but that’s not their preferred blood. To get the best results, and not jeopardize their chemical profiles, it was important to feed them human blood.”