Do you consider it important to focus on the fight against plastic pollution?

Yes, it is critical. Plastic pollution is having an increasing impact on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and many insects are directly affected by it. Some are trapped in plastic debris, while others suffer alterations to their habitats or the food webs on which they depend. In addition, there is evidence that certain microplastics can affect the development or behavior of insects, especially in larval stages. From entomology, we understand that insect health is a core topic for pollination, biological control of pests and decomposition of organic subject , so protecting them is essential for ecological balance.
 

How can this problem be addressed from your research area ?

From the entomological point of view, this problem can be approached in several ways:
1) Biodegradation of plastics by insects: some species, such as the larvae of Tenebrio molitor (mealworm) and Galleria mellonella (wax moth), have shown the ability to degrade certain types of plastics, such as polystyrene or polyethylene. Studying how they do this and which bacteria are involved may offer sustainable biotechnological solutions.
2) Ecological impact monitoring: we can study, and it is very important to get a lot of data, how the presence of plastics affects insect populations in different habitats, which financial aid to assess the real impact of this pollution on ecosystems.
3) Environmental Education with insects as indicators: some insects can act as bio-indicators of the level of pollution in an environment, which allows us to visualize the effects of plastic pollution in nature.
 

Are you participating in any project related to this issue? If not, what project would you like to implement to tackle plastic pollution?

We are not currently involved in a specific project on plastic pollution, although we are open to collaborating with researchers in microbiology to study the gut bacteria of certain insects capable of degrading plastics. In the future we may undertake projects to identify insect species with the potential to degrade common plastic waste, and I would be interested in long-term programs of study on the effects of microplastics on pollinating insects, such as bees, given their ecological and agricultural importance.

* Enrique Baquero belongs to the School of Sciences. Learn more about his research.