Science spotlight: Day in the life breeding insects in the Pirbright Philip Mellor Insectary

Dr Melanie Nicholls is a postdoctoral scientist at The Pirbright Institute working in the Philip Mellor Insectary (PMI), a specialist science facility which houses exotic and endemic (native to the UK) insects for use in research on vector-borne viruses. Six bio secure laboratories are used to rear and maintain the insects, which include mosquitoes, biting midges, stable flies and moths. Several research groups at Pirbright, including Arthropod Genetics, Entomology, Transmission Biology and Vector Molecular Biology, rely on the expertise in insect production and supply provided by staff at the insectary to aid in their research.

Read more to find out what a typical day in the PMI looks like.