Research studies insect immunity
For some MSU researchers, an analyzed bug in the hand is worth two in the bush.Professors Robert Hollingworth and Ke Dong are researching possible answers to the question of how insects become resistant to pesticides.Hollingworth, a professor of entomology, said he and Professor Dong are interested in the biochemistry and genetics of how populations of insects change and mutate in the field.A population of insects starts off where a percentage are killed by insecticides, but by sheer chance, mutations allow some of them to become resistant to the insecticides, Hollingworth said.