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From DEET to Sweet
Congratulations are in order.
Chemical ecologist Walter Leal, professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, has just been selected a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America, a prestigious honor granted to only 10 or few members of the 6000-member organization each year.
Leal is internationally known for his pioneering and innovative work on insect communication.
“This is a highly prestigious honor and richly deserved,” said Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and one of 10 other UC Davis entomologists named ESA Fellows since 1947.
May Berenbaum, professor and head of the Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, one of the scientists who supported his nomination, praised him as a "trail blazer" and lauded his leadership.
Leal and his lab discovered the secret mode of DEET, the insect repellent. For some 50 years, scientists figured it worked by either jamming the insect's senses or masking the smell of the host. Not so. In groundbreaking research, the Leal lab showed that mosquitoes can indeed smell DEET, but they avoid it because they don't like the smell.
In other words, it smells bad. That's why they avoid it.
The groundbreaking research, published Aug. 18, 2008 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is among the most widely downloaded and cited PNAS documents.
Leal's pheromone work has graced the cover of several journals, including Structure, and has been showcased in the popular press, including the BBC, New York Times, and National Public Radio.
Leal has identified and synthesized complex pheromones from such insects as scarab beetles, true bugs, longhorn beetles, moths, and the naval orangeworm.
Entomologist Bruce Hammock, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, said Leal’s research has “practical implications in explaining how insects communicate within species, how they detect host and non-host plants, and how insect parasites detect their prey.”
Leal's navel orangeworm work alone is certain to result in a multi-million dollar beneficial impact on crops ranging from almonds to citrus, Hammock said. Leal's research on mosquito behavior is crucial to controlling vectorborne diseases like West Nile virus and malaria.
World-class research.
World-class researcher.
And now, an honor to match.
Walter Leal
DEET Plays a Role
When UC Davis chemical ecologist Walter Leal received a major award from the Entomological Society of America at its 56th annual meeting, held in Reno, DEET has something to do with it.
Leal, who received the Recognition Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology from ESA president Michael Gray, has amassed an amazing record of productivity. Most recently: his lab discovered the mode of action for the mosquito repellent, DEET.
Contrary to previous hypotheses, DEET doesn't jam a mosquto's sense of smell or mask the smell of the host. The reason why mosquitoes avoid DEET is they don't like the smell and avoid it.
Leal, professor of entomology and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, was one of seven professionals receiving distinguished awards at the ESA meeting. The other categories were extension, entomology, horticultural entomology, teaching, the certification program, and early career innovation.
A pioneer in the field of insect olfaction, Leal is best known for his research on the mode of action of odorant–binding proteins and odorant-degrading enzymes on the identification and synthesis of insect sex pheromones and on insect chemical communication.
As colleague Ring Cardé, chair of the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside, said: "Dr. Leal is one of the leading scientists worldwide studying the chemistry of pheromone communication in insects and related arthropods.”
Michael Gray and Walter Leal
