Harnessing insect viruses

Insects are ecologically, economically and medically very important animals. They compete with humans for food resources (as agricultural pests) and transmit a variety of pathogens that cause death and disease in people and animals. But many are also beneficial in controlling other insects, pollinating plants and producing food and textiles such as honey and silk.

Our researchers are investigating viruses that are harmful to agricultural pests (beneficial viruses) or transmitted by mosquitoes (hazardous viruses) to understand how they reproduce in their host insects and the anti-viral responses displayed by the host during their replication.

The outcomes are helping to develop new strategies to:

• augment production of environmentally friendly beneficial viruses (such as a baculovirus that causes mortality in the cotton bollworm) and their impact on agricultural pests to reduce damage to crops and the environment
• inhibit transmission of hazardous viruses (such as dengue and Zika viruses) by mosquito vectors to reduce disease burden in human populations.