Professor Smagghe leads a research group on crop protection in the university’s bio-engineering faculty, and his speciality is insects – in particular, the metamorphosis of insects such as caterpillars, beetles and aphids. Understanding their development can lead to new means of protecting crops from the ravages they inflict.

His work has not gone unnoticed: The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of the world’s most prestigious scientific communities, approved him as a fellow last autumn. Smagghe is only the second Fleming to ever earn the honour after Nobel Prize winner Christian de Duve.

“One of the things that’s very intriguing for me is insect metamorphosis,” Smagghe tells me from his office in Ghent. “So when you have a caterpillar, and it develops into a butterfly, what are the mechanisms of life? What is the process, what sort of hormones or receptors are coming into play in this remodelling of life? This is developmental biology, more fundamental work.”

Insects are one of the main hazards facing crops worldwide, from the sap-sucking aphid, of which there are more than 4,000 species attacking everything from cabbage to cherry trees, to the Colorado potato beetle, which spread to Flanders from US military bases in France in the first half of the last century.

“The fundamental research I’m doing on metamorphosis is teaching me a lot about the receptors present in the nucleus of cells. By playing on these receptors, we can discover new insect-specific insecticides. There is a very interesting group of insecticides that are specific for insects, so there is no harm to humans or to beneficial organisms like fish or birds. [The insecticides] work specifically on the insect’s receptors. This is a very important synergy between fundamental research and an application for more environmentally safe agriculture. It’s very creative and very original, so this is one of the best examples of what we’ve been working on in recent years.”

Professor Smagghe’s priority is simply to expand scientific knowledge. His lab does not work to produce products that will come to market, as some research labs do in fields such as biotechnology, for example.

“We contribute fundamental aspects to an understanding of the mechanisms of insect-specific insecticides. We are not like a service lab for industry,” he says. “We try to contribute to what is known about the mechanisms, and other people can employ that and develop products. I see myself more as an interface between academia and what others can deliver.”

If you know your enemies, the philosopher Lao Tzu said, you will not be imperilled in a hundred battles. So Smagghe’s research has allowed the development of genetically modified plants that express their own toxic proteins, which are fatal to insects. He has also worked with lectins – proteins present in our own immune systems that recognise and confront pathogens. The same system can be used in insecticides to attack one particular insect pest, while other organisms remain unharmed.

Leaving it better than you found it

The bulk of Prof Smagghe’s funding comes from two Flemish government institutions: the Fund for Scientific Research and the Agency for Innovation through Science and Technology. “We still have to compete with other projects, though,” he says. “The money doesn’t come from the private sector because our work is really a contribution to society. One of my credos, as well as a passion for research, is its usefulness for society. I really want to make a difference, contributing through science to the community. That’s the drive that I have.”

And it’s not only the local region that benefits. In the developing world, some 70% of the population lives in rural areas, often farming for themselves. The kinds of solutions being investigated by labs like Professor Smagghe’s could offer hope to the people who need it most. The importance of basic research is felt worldwide.

“Yes, definitely it is,” he says. “It’s not only important to Western society, it’s also South America, Africa, Asia. Not everybody has the means to buy extremely expensive chemicals. In my group, I always have researchers from developing countries. Right now I have somebody from Syria and somebody from Brazil. They do fantastic research and then can take the knowledge and technology they obtain here back and make a difference right there in their own countries.”

Smagghe describes the crop protection research group as “young and dynamic”, consisting of about 25 post-doctoral researchers, doctoral and master’s students. “I know groups in the VIB [Flemish Institute for Biotechnology] of more than 100 people, but for insect research this is a good-sized group,” he says. “Within the group I have different subgroups – some working on receptors, some working on bumblebees. The trick is always to find good people. You can write up projects, you can find the money, but then you have to hire good people. That’s the same everywhere, but it’s also part of my job – good human resources.”

The lab is also populated by many non-humans. “I’m a little bit different from many of my colleagues internationally; many of them focus on one or two insects, but I have more than 10 here in my group. I deal with a lot of comparative issues, so I have three caterpillars in culture, two beetles, two aphids, bumblebees. That’s the richness of comparative work, and this is why I want to keep the different insects alive in my lab. Of course it also takes time and effort to maintain the colonies, but I think it’s worth it.”

www.insects.ugent.be