Member Article

Northern university project gets slice of £13m

A collaborative project between three Northern universities has been awarded £785,000 of a £13m funding programme to turn ideas from basic plant science into practical applications to benefit UK farmers and consumers.

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has awarded funding to 18 projects that will aim to address real-world issues. The collaborative project between Durham University, Newcastle University and Central Science Laboratory, York, will be led by Dr John Gatehouse of the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Durham, and will look at enhancing the resistance of wheat to insects. The programme will investigate how wheat plants defend themselves from attacks by major UK wheat pests, and how the insects counter the plant’s defences. It will also examine how environmentally friendly insecticides can be developed to protect valuable wheat crops.

Dr Gatehouse said: “The funding from the BBSRC will enable us to develop practical solutions for the British agricultural industry to use against the increasing threat insects pose for wheat crops. Spraying with pesticides is inefficient, costly, and environmentally undesirable. “In addition, as the climate warms up, the range and severity of attacks by these insect pests is extending. Finding a practical solution is increasingly important.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .