NERC highlights Swansea's New Green Revolution

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The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has highlighted research by Professor Tariq Butt from Swansea University’s College of Science.

The NERC Follow-on Fund has supported Prof Butt’s work to develop a fungus into an environmentally friendly pesticide. This has since been licensed by a biotechnology firm and is on sale in the UK.

Green muscardine fungus - Metarhizium anisopliae - occurs naturally in soils worldwide. This fungus is an effective killer of some insects, such as the black pine weevil, but is harmless to others.

Pine Weevil 

"Many chemical pesticides are now being phased out because of their impact on wider ecosystems, so this development couldn't come at a better time," says Professor Tariq Butt at Swansea University's College of Science.