Projects
Implementing Insect Production in Agricultural Value Chains - An ex-ante life cycle evaluation KU Leuven
An ever-growing demand for animal based food products is affecting the productivity of global food production systems, and urgently needed measures to curb further environmental degradation promise similar effects. Whether future demand scenarios can be met sustainably, depends not least on whether it is possible to significantly reduce the environmental impact of aquaculture and livestock production. Recent research suggests that the use of ...
Cognitive Robotic System for Digitalized and Networked (Automated) Insect Farms KU Leuven
By 2030 over 9 billion people, along with animals raised for food or kept as companions, will need to be fed generating inconsistencies between the demand and supply of food resources and promoting food insecurity by rendering food as unavailable, unaffordable, unevenly distributed or unsafe to eat. Therefore, food security represents the big challenge of the 21st century and in that context one promising potential sustainable solution is ...
Introsect: the introduction of insect rearing as an agricultural activity in the primary sector Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Rearing insects is considered a new, challenging agricultural activity. But what is possible on an existing farm? Which insect thrives best in an existing space? What adjustments are needed and what difficulties are experienced with this type of husbandry? In this "Introsect" VLAIO-LA traject, partners Inagro, ILVO, VIVES, KULeuven / Thomas More and the National Experimental Gardens for ...
Harnessing Insect–Microbe Chemical Communications To Control Insect Pests KU Leuven
Biological control using arthropod natural enemies such as insect parasitoids and predators has become an important alternative way of pest management. However, there are still many cases where biocontrol efficacy is low, e.g. due to ineffective monitoring systems, lack of suitable sugars and the occurrence of hyperparasitoids that parasitize the primary parasitoids. Previous research has shown that microorganisms may emit diverse microbial ...
Optimizing RNA interference for insect pest control KU Leuven
RNAi is an advanced specific post-transcriptional gene silencing method; its discovery in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans resulted in the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 2006, illustrating its wide scientific impact. During the first RNAi decade, scientists also recognized its potential for useful applications, including crop protection. Especially the fact that RNAi may specifically target certain pest insects without causing ...
Strengthening KU Leuven Campus Geel as Centre of Excellence for industrial insect research KU Leuven
Microbiological dynamics and safety risks during rearing of insects for food and feed KU Leuven
The potential of insects as novel protein source in food and feed is gaining increased attention in western countries. Insects are considered as “minilivestock” with potential of being produced more sustainably as compared to traditional livestock and livestock feed ingredients (e.g. soybean meal and fishmeal), while exhibiting equal nutritional qualities. However, little knowledge exists on the endogenous microbiota of industrially reared ...
Differential transcriptomics in the regulation of digestion and uptake of protease inhibitors in the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria KU Leuven
Insects are among the most successful organisms on the planet. One explanation for their success is their extraordinary ability to successfully consume a wide range of foods. Like all heterotrophic organisms, insects need to acquire vital nutrients from their diet. The central organ for food digestion and absorption of nutrients is the gastrointestinal tract. This organ’s principal functions are to mediate the efficient digestion of food and ...
The regulation of food uptake and digestion as a target for alternative pest control. KU Leuven
The fundamental processes of feeding and digestion are necessary to acquire sufficient building blocks and energy to fuel anabolic processes, such as growth, development and reproduction. Animals require the ability to respond to both environmental and internal cues and relate these to their nutritional state. A rigid regulatory system is necessary in all animals to ensure that feeding and digestion are dynamically controlled. This regulation ...