Insect Biotechnology, 2011
Biologically-Inspired Systems Series, Vol. 2

The book provides a fascinating overview about current and sophisticated developments in applied entomology that are powered by molecular biology and that can be summarized under a novel term: insect biotechnology. By analogy with the application of powerful molecular biological tools in medicine (red biotechnology), plant protection (green biotechnology) and industrial processing (white biotechnology), insect biotechnology (yellow biotechnology) provides novel tools and strategies for human welfare and nutrition. Insect Biotechnology has emerged as a prospering discipline with considerable economic potential, and encompasses the use of insect model organisms and insect-derived molecules in medical research as well as in modern plant protection measures.

Part 1: Insect Biotechnology in Medicine 1: The greater wax moth Galleria mellonella as an alternative model host for human pathogens; Krishnendu Mukherjee, Eugen, Domann, Torsten Hain 2: Fruit flies as models in biomedical research – a Drosophila asthma model; Thomas, Roeder, Kerstin Isermann, Christina Wagner, Christine Warmbold 3: Therapeutic potential of antimicrobial peptides from insects; Jochen Wiesner, Andreas Vilcinskas 4: From traditional maggot therapy to modern biosurgery ; Andreas Vilcinskas 5: Insect-associated microorganisms as source for novel secondary metabolites with therapeutic potential; Helge Bode, 6: Potential pharmaceuticals from insects and their co-occurring microorganisms; Konrad Dettner Part 2: Insect Biotechnology in Plant Protection 7: Insect antimicrobial peptides as new weapons against plant pathogens; Carin Jansen, Karl-Heinz Kogel 8: Protection of Crops against Insect Pests using RNA Interference; John Gatehouse, Daniel Price 9: Insect Transgenesis and the Sterile insect technique; Marc Schetelig, Ernst Wimmer, Part 3: Industrial applications of Insect Biotechnology 10: Insect cells for heterologous protein expression; Christoph Becker-Pauly, Walter Stöcker 11: Biotechnologies based on silk; Frantisek Sehnal 12: Biosensors on the basis of insect olfaction; Sebastian, Paczkowski, Bernd Weißbecker, Michael Schöning, Stefan Schütz 13: Insect-Inspired technologies: Insects as a source for biomimetics; Stanislas Gorb

First book about a novel and rapidly developing research field Provides an comprehensive overview about emerging applications of insects or derivatives thereof in medicine, plant protection and industrial biotechnology Written by leading scientists in developing cutting edge technologies