R&D update
Unraveling the DNA of the Aussie blowfly
America led the global effort to sequence the human genome, China the rice genome, now it’s time for Australia and New Zealand to make their contribution… the blowfly.
Australian Wool Innovation Limited (AWI) has allocated $1.4 million to a study of the genome of the Australian sheep blowfly.
Scientists from both Australian and New Zealand are working in collaboration to unlock the genetic secrets of the blowfly.
It’s the first step in a larger campaign to fight back against insect pests that devastate agriculture around the world, according to Dr Phil Batterham, leader of the project and Deputy Director of CESAR*.
“I commend AWI for their vision in funding this project.
“Genetic technologies have the potential to allow us to find much better solutions to insect pest control across agriculture globally,” said Dr Batterham.
“Our study of the blowfly genome will allow us not only to understand the defence systems of the blowfly but also to find weak spots that might be exploited.
“This would allow us to develop targeted insecticides that would stop the blowfly and eliminate the risk of collateral damage in the environment,” Dr Batterham said.
“This development of more sophisticated and targeted prevention and control measures for sheep blowfly strike has the potential to make a huge difference to the Australian sheep and wool industry,” said Dr Len Stephens, CEO of AWI.
Sheep blowfly strike is estimated to cost farmers more than $160 million a year in control costs and lost production; not to mention causing sheep to suffer.
“Farmers are making the best of the tools that science has given them. But thousands of pest insect species have become resistant to insecticides, and many pesticides have an environmental impact,” noted Dr Batterham.
“Now, with genomics, we can do better.
“We can learn about the enemy’s weak spots and defence systems and develop a new generation of precisely targeted insecticides that attack the pest species and nothing else,” concluded Dr Batterham.
“We have the opportunity to use genetics to revolutionize insect control," says Dr Max Scott, co-investigator of the project from the Centre for Functional Genomics at Massey University, New Zealand.
“And the benefits could go far beyond the agriculture – the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has identified genetic and chemical control of insects as two of their 14 Grand Challenges for Global Health,” said Dr Scott.
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