Metamorphosis: How Insects are Changing our World

Before humans stamped their mark on this planet, insects had shaped it into the colourful and extraordinary world we all share today. Now these minibeasts are leading extraordinary discoveries from robotics to genetics to forensics, transforming our knowledge of agriculture, medicine, aerospace, artificial intelligence, biodiversity and ourselves.

Whether it’s the astonishing properties of resilin, the protein that makes fleas jump, the needle-like proboscis of the mosquito’s mouth being used to develop smart needles or the computational dynamics gleaned from studying locust swarms in Africa, Erica McAlister and Adrian Washbourne reveal the wonder of insects, the historical figures who have made great breakthroughs in understanding them and the increasingly vital role they play in ensuring life, as we know it, continues.