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  Biological pesticideUSPTO Application #: 20080107640Title: Biological pesticide Abstract: Methods for exterminating pests using compositions comprising at least one protease enzyme. A detergent component may also be utilized in such compositions. (end of abstract) Agent: Price Heneveld Cooper Dewitt & Litton, LLP - Grand Rapids, MI, US Inventor: Stephen L. Tvedten USPTO Applicaton #: 20080107640 - Class: 424094630 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Drug, Bio-affecting And Body Treating Compositions, Enzyme Or Coenzyme Containing, Hydrolases (3. ) (e.g., Urease, Lipase, Asparaginase, Muramidase, Etc.), Acting On Peptide Bonds (3.4) (e.g., Urokinease, Etc.) The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080107640. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/687,489, filed Oct. 16, 2003, which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/341,174, filed Aug. 20, 1999, which claims priority to International Application PCT/US98/01137 filed on Jan. 8, 1998, which in turn claims priority to a provisional application, U.S. Provisional Application 60/034,740, filed on Jan. 9, 1997. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Pesticides are commonly used in a multitude of settings, from homes, schools, and offices to manufacturing plants, cargo containers, and agricultural contexts. Most pesticides are generally insect or arachnid nervous system toxicants, inhibiting or overpotentiating synapse-synapse and/or neuro-muscular junction transmission, many acting specifically as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. [0003] Representative examples of pesticides include: 1) chlorinated phenyl and cyclodiene compounds such as DDT, chlordane, heptachlor, and aldrin and dieldrin; 2) the carbamate esters carbaryl, carbofuran, aldicarb, and baygon; 3) organic thiophosphate esters such as diazinon, malathion, parathion, and dicapthon; and 4) the synthetic pyrethroids allethrin, permethrin, resmethrin, and fenvalerate. [0004] These and other pesticides present risks to human health. Although the rate of post-application degradation may vary widely, almost all pesticides present some direct risk to human health through residual toxicity, i.e. direct human contact with pesticide residues remaining after treatment, whether through inhalation of volatile toxic vapors, skin contact and transdermal absorption, or ingestion. In addition, many pesticides present indirect risks to human health in the form of environmental pollution, most notably pollution with persistent, halide-substituted organics, which accumulate in the fat stores of food fish and other animals. These problems have led to complete bans on the use of some pesticides--e.g., DDT, chlordane, heptachlor, aldrin, and dieldrin--while the continued use of the remaining pesticides has produced a new problem: the increasing development of widespread resistance to pesticides. [0005] This resistance yields two results: 1) quick posttreatment reoccupation, by the same or a similar insect or arachnid, of the pesticidally-cleared area; and 2) the need and cost of continually engineering new pesticides (e.g., synthetic pyrethroids were developed because of resistance to the less toxic first generation pyrethrins). New pesticide production takes time and the new pesticides that result are almost universally more expensive than those they replace. In this context, traditional pesticides are applied on a regular, and typically increasing, basis. For example, many schools have come to be sprayed monthly or even biweekly, and with increasing quantities of pesticides to combat endemic roach re-infestations, often to no avail. This intensifies the problem of residual toxicity to people, especially to children who, as a result, may suffer headaches, grogginess, nausea, dizziness, irritability, frenetic behavior, and an impaired readiness to learn. [0006] Because of these effects, it has been recognized that totally new approaches must be discovered and implemented in order to effectively control invertebrate pests without destroying human health and the environment. One such approach is "integrated pest management" ("IPM"). [0007] Integrated pest management utilizes a variety of ecological strategies by taking advantage of pest behaviors and natural enemies, such as parasites, predators, and/or diseases. Examples of such strategies include the use of commercially available supplies of ladybugs to treat aphid infestations, the release of sterile males into populations of pests to decrease their genetic potential, the trapping or bait-poisoning of pests responding to a pheromone attractant, the application of juvenizing hormones to pests, and the release of spores of pest-pathogenic bacteria such as Bacillus thuringiensis. [0008] Usually a variety of these techniques must be used together since few result in broad-spectrum pest control. However, their use alone takes a significant investment of time, labor, and attention in order to attain a threshold level of pest control: pest populations must be monitored and recorded, occupants may be required to improve their housekeeping habits, and structural problems such as cracks and gaps must be identified and repaired. In addition, it is often necessary to quickly combat acute infestations, requiring treatment with traditional pesticides in the short term, in order to readily establish the long-term controls of IPM. Moreover, many of the ecological strategies have limited applicability in indoor environments such as offices and classrooms. Therefore, there is a need for a quick-acting, effective, residually non-toxic method for combating insect, arachnid, and other pests, which may be used as a replacement for traditional pesticide treatments and as a supplement to the arsenal of currently available IPM techniques. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for combating invertebrate (i.e. insect and arachnid) and microbe (i.e. bacterial, algal, fungal, and/or viral) pests which is quick-acting, effective, and residually non-toxic and which may be used as a replacement for traditional pesticide treatments and as a supplement to the arsenal of currently available integrated pest management techniques. [0010] It has been surprisingly found that the application of a composition comprising at least one protease enzyme is a method for exterminating pests which achieves these objectives. The enzyme component of the invention may comprise a single protease or a protease-containing mixture of enzymes, whether natural, preformed, or synthetic, at no more than 1% by weight. In an alternate embodiment, the composition may also comprise a detergent component. This detergent component comprises one or more surfactant(s), detergent builder(s), or mixtures thereof. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0011] A preferred embodiment of the method of the present invention employs a composition comprising an enzyme component. The enzyme component comprises at least one protease enzyme that may be a natural, preformed, or synthetic protease, alone or in combination with other enzymes. The protease(s) used in the composition of a preferred embodiment of the present invention may be any of the peptidases, serine proteases, zinc proteases, thiol proteases, and/or acid proteases. The protease(s) may be digestive protease(s) from an animal, plant, bacterium, or fungus. Additional enzyme(s) may be any of hydrolases, oxidoreductases, transferases, lyases, ligases, and/or isomerases. The additional enzyme(s) may comprise digestive enzyme(s) from an animal, plant, bacterium, or fungus. Preferably, the enzyme component comprises at least one protease. Some pests may require at least one other hydrolase, more preferably a mixture of at least one protease and at least one cellulase, lipase, glycosidase, amylase, chitinase, other protease, or mixture thereof. [0012] Protease enzymes may be obtained from various commercial sources. A preferred protease source is the mixture of proteases--IUB 3.4.21.14 and IUB 3.4.24.4--sold as Burcotase AL-25 and available from Burlington Chemical Co. of Burlington, N.C. Specialty Enzymes and BioChemicals Co. in Chino, Calif. has several preparations, including one derived from Bacillus subtilis, var, and Bacillus licheniformis, var. About 20% by weight or less of the composition may comprise enzymes, more preferably about 0.3-10%, even more preferably about 1-5%, and still more preferably no more than 1%. I have surprisingly found that higher percentages than 1% may give rise to anaphylactic shock and/or ocular and/or dermal irritation or sensitivity and/or occupational asthma. [0013] The enzyme(s) used in the composition of a preferred embodiment of the present method are dissolved or suspended in water. In an alternate embodiment, they may be dissolved or suspended in a solution comprising a detergent component and a stabilizer. [0014] The detergent component may comprise one or more surfactants--e.g., soap(s), --detergent builders, or mixtures thereof. The surfactant may be one or more of the cationic, anionic, nonionic, zwitterionic, amphoteric, amphiphilic, or ampholytic surfactants, the soaps, or the mixtures thereof. Preferably, the detergent component will comprise at least one surfactant, more preferably at least one surfactant and at least one detergent builder, and even more preferably at least one detergent builder and a fragrance oil, e.g., peppermint. Alternately, the detergent component will preferably comprise at least one each of anionic and nonionic surfactants, and a fragrance oil, e.g., peppermint, and more preferably, at least one detergent builder, at least one each of anionic and nonionic surfactants, and a fragrance oil, e.g., peppermint. [0015] Preferred anionic surfactants include alkali metal-, alkaline earth metal-, ammonium-, and alkylammonium-carboxylate, -sarcosinate, -sulfonate, and -sulfate salts of saturated or unsaturated alkyl, aryl, or alkylaryl compounds. More preferred anionic surfactants include the salts of saturated and unsaturated alkyl alcohols, fats, fatty acids, and oils, including tallow or coconut, palm, castor, olive, or citrus oils. Even more preferred anionic surfactants include the alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, ammonium, and alkylammonium salts of C.sub.8-C.sub.20 alcohol sulfates and of C.sub.8-C.sub.20 fatty acids. [0016] Preferred nonionic surfactants include alkoxylated and polyalkoxylated compounds. More preferred nonionic surfactants include ethoxylated- and polyethoxylated-alkylphenols, -alcohols, -polyols, -fatty acids, -fatty acid amides, and -carboxylic acids. Even more preferred nonionic surfactants include the alkylaryl polyethylene glycols, e.g., alkylphenyl ethers of polyethylene glycol. [0017] Preferred soaps may be one or more of the natural soaps, neat soaps, insecticidal or antibacterial soaps; the oil soaps or castile soaps; the household or commercial cleaners or degreasers, such as dish soap; the oil-spiked, extract-spiked, or saponified botanical oil-based soaps such as soaps comprising, e.g., an oil, saponified oil, or extract of citronella (or citronellol or rhodinol), pine (or terpineol), cedarwood, sandalwood, wormwood, lemon grass, citrus (e.g., lemon), lavender, eucalyptus, sassafras, neem tree, balsam, niaouli, cajeput, clove, cubeb, thyme, garlic, wintergreen, peppermint or another mint, American wormseed, Levant wormseed, Juniperus spp., or Chrysanthemum spp., or comprising, e.g., an additive such as menthol, menthane, sobrerol, camphor, or anethole, or comprising a mixture thereof; or the mixtures thereof. Preferably, the soap-type surfactant will comprise a peppermint soap, i.e. a soap preparation comprising a peppermint oil or peppermint extract additive or a saponified peppermint oil or another extract or fragrance or plant oil, e.g., gerinol, geranium oil, eucalyptus oil, rosemary oil, cedar oil, citronella oil, citrus oil, sage oil, pennyroyal oil, teetree oil, mint oil, clove oil, pepper oil, marigold oil, tansy oil, horsebalm oil, wintergreen oil, bayberry oil, garlic oil, goldenseal oil, hyssop oil, hemlock oil, cardamom oil, spearmint oil, oleander oil, jojoba oil, canola oil, juniper oil, lavandin oil, lavender oil, lemongrass oil, limonene and/or linalool, chamomile oil, neem oil, olive oil, nutmeg oil, onion oil, pine oil, quassia oil, rue oil, ryania oil, sage oil, sesame oil, soybean oil, thyme oil and/or vegetable oil. [0018] Preferred detergent builders include the alkali metal-borates, -tripolyphosphates, [0019] -pyrophosphates, -phosphates, -sesquicarbonates, -carbonates, -silicates, -aluminosilicates, [0020] -nitrilotriacetates, -citrates, -EDTAtes, and mixtures thereof. A most preferred builder is sodium borate. Continue reading... Full patent description for Biological pesticide Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Biological pesticide patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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