Close collaboration The close collaboration allowed the Wuhan Institute of Virology to develop into one of the world’s top laboratories in its field, on a par with Wageningen. “Nowadays, our collaboration goes both ways,” says Professor Hu. “We also work with partners in other countries, with each partner doing research. We then meet a number of times to discuss the project. Once the project is finished, so is the collaboration. In the case of Wageningen, however, we do a lot more than simply swap research data. Our institutes also exchange staff and students. Our collaboration would be less intense without support from the Programme Strategic Scientific Alliances.” At the moment, Professor Hu and her counterparts in Wageningen are studying the baculovirus as an alternative to chemical pesticides, specifically in cotton cultivation. She explains: “We focus on cotton, but the baculovirus can also be used on other crops. It’s even useful in vaccine production.” Cleaner and greener The joint project will shed light on the workings of what Professor Hu describes as “a very complicated virus”. Once we know which genes determine how the virus kills which pests, it becomes possible to replace chemical pesticides with a baculovirus in an ever wider variety of crops. “Our joint project can help tea companies in China switch from using pesticides to using the baculovirus exclusively. That makes tea production cleaner and greener. I think the public wants that,” she says. “Viruses are natural and can remain active in a field for a long time, unlike pesticides. There is a trend towards using natural products, and companies would like to use the eco-label for their products. That makes our research necessary.”
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