• Ecology - Insect science - Microbiology

    The Animal Microbiome

    18/07/2021 - By 

    What are microbes doing for animals? We all contain multitudes [1], and the microbiome field has grown by leaps and bounds. Most work has been done in humans and other model animals such as mice, where conditions can be very well controlled in the lab. However animals also have their own microbiome, including those in the wild, as well as domesticated animals, which can have effects on ecology and agriculture. Dr. Sue Ishaq explains this further in her story of how she started working in the field of the microbiome, microbiology and genomics of animals, taking a few left turns…

  • Engineering - Insect science

    Engineering a Trojan Horse

    21/09/2020 - By 

    A strategy to rid crops of locusts. Massive locust swarms have threatened the food security of communities and cities in East Africa, Asia and the Middle East [1 – 3]. In 2020, eleven ambitious students, representing TU Delft, are competing in iGEM, the largest synthetic biological competition in the world. are working hard to tackle this problem. Their mission is to develop a sustainable bio-pesticide through responsible innovation and collaboration. By engineering a bacteriophage that would hijack the locust microbiome to produce a novel endotoxin, they hope to create a specific, scaleable and biologically safe method to kill locusts when…