Our facilities

Our interests in Applied Entomology are very broad, and we have facilities that enable us to accommodate a vast diversity of insects, and to address a vast diversity of research questions. We span the full range of research styles, from fundamental curiosity-driven exploratory research to development and testing of technology to address issues of economic, environmental or health significance. We are exceptionally well equipped to address a full range of research questions and to address diverse Applied Entomology challenges, with ample general entomology laboratories, controlled environment laboratories, outdoor enclosures, microscopy, respirometry, electrophysiology, bioassay systems, wind tunnels, locomotion tracking facilities, and bioacoustics.

Research groups in Applied BioSciences are using insect synthetic biology to develop technologies that address critical industry challenges. We are developing new genetic biocontrol tools for pest species and equipping insects with the enzymes needed to convert waste to high-value products. These projects are made possible by a state-of-the-art PC2 invertebrate facility with multiple controlled environment rooms, insect anaesthesia systems, fluorescent stereomicroscopes, and an embryo microinjection station.

The Galleria Research Facility is Australia’s first fully functional high-throughput facility for the Galleria mellonella wax-moth larvae in vivo model. This ethical and cost-effective animal model has high correlation with mouse studies, and can be used as effective pre-screening of drug toxicity and efficacy studies, virulence and infection studies of bacterial and fungal pathogens, and microbial interaction studies.

PC2 molecular biology laboratories enable Applied BioSciences scientists to work on a wide range of microbiology, molecular biology, and synthetic biology research projects. The laboratories are fully equipped with a vast diversity of equipment, including biosafety cabinets, fume cupboards, numerous fridges and freezers, microbiological incubators, thermocyclers, a robotic liquid handling system, and numerous additional tools for DNA, protein, and enzyme analysis.