Insects damage important crops and forests, and some insect species are responsible for the transmission of disease. If we better understand which compounds mediate the attraction of these insects, we could better control the damage. SPARK funding for this project will help Drs. Daniel Doucet and Jeremy Allison (Great Lakes Forestry Centre) develop the antenna-in-a-cell platform that aims to find physiologically active odorants and understand how they interact with the insects’ odorant receptors (OR). This research holds promise for the development of odorant molecules as operational insect lures.
The project focused the validation of the approach on two invasive insects of critical concern in forestry: the Emerald Ash Borer and the Brown Spruce Longhorned Beetle. The experiments have resulted in the identification of key ORs in both species which will, down the line, aid in the development of optimal odor blends to use against these two insect species.
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With $30 million in follow-on funding so far, more companies are joining the BioCreate accelerator Eight new...