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Students are welcome to discuss projects using Drosophila to model aspects of human cardiac and renal function. These can be at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Current projects involve modeling the impact of aging on valve biology and the impact of long term cadmium exposure on cardiac ageing.
Insect health projects
Insect health projects
Field work indicates that heart and nephrocyte function differs between individuals of the same species of insect. Variation is seen in ecologically important insect families such as the bees and hoverflies.
Field work indicates that heart and nephrocyte function differs between individuals of the same species of insect. Variation is seen in ecologically important insect families such as the bees and hoverflies.
If these were people we'd be concerned for their health!
If these were people we'd be concerned for their health!
Evidence from our laboratory studies indicates that insects with an unhealthy heart, or a poorly maintained circulatory system will develop immune problems, as well as organ damage and because of this, they die young. This suggests that the variation we see in wild insects might be ecologically important.
Given that many species of insects are in decline, the more we know about their health and the factors that affect health, the better we might become at preventing population declines and extinctions.
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