There is a host of innovative and highly regarded research coming out of the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences and 82% of our School’s biology research outputs are rated as either world-leading (4-star) or internationally excellent (3-star) by the Research Excellence Framework 2014.
One example of such research comes from Dr Yannick Wurm, Reader in Bioinformatics who teaches on the ‘Genome Bioinformatics’ module taken by both MSc Bioinformatics and MSc Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics students.
Britain’s bees, along with other pollinating insects are in trouble and further declines in their diversity and abundance would have a serious impact on how the natural world functions, including our crops. Dr Wurm and his team have come up with innovative new approaches to improve the regulation of pesticides, known to be one of the major causes behind recent declines in pollinator numbers.
Their research published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution suggests using a molecular medicine approach could improve the regulation of pesticides. Sequencing techniques, which provide thousands to millions of measurements per sample, have already revolutionized medical research with RNA sequencing methods routinely used to assess the risks of new drugs
Though RNA sequencing of pollinators exposed to different pesticides, we can understand the genes and molecules involved in pesticide responses, how these vary between pollinator species and how susceptible species are to certain pesticides.
Dr Wurm, said "Traditionally, toxic effects of pesticides were evaluated by examining the survival of honeybees after exposure. Whilst new recommendations have improved testing methods, for example by encouraging assessment of both the short and long-term effects in multiple bee species, further improvements are needed to ensure the potential risks of new and existing pesticides are fully assessed."
The new approach would help us better understand and predict the vulnerability of diverse pollinator species to existing and future pesticides. Ultimately, this would help discover new pesticides with minimal ill effects on pollinators, allowing them to flourish.