Significant areas of biodiversity research lie within the remit of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), particularly at a molecular level and within the context of agricultural organisms and systems.
Bioscience research and innovation has a significant role in advancing biodiversity knowledge, with potential to help address biodiversity issues and related societal challenges.
Several biodiversity-related opportunity areas are of specific strategic BBSRC interest, outlined in the following sections.
Knowledge of biodiversity
This area covers fundamental questions on the diversity of life, expanding our understanding of biological processes, mechanisms and phenotypes across living systems at the frontiers of knowledge.
Targeted research into functional diversity
We’re interested in understanding how diversity in genomes relates to phenotype through functional studies, including closing the gap between our understanding in laboratory and non-laboratory contexts. Mechanistic understanding is vital for identifying potential routes for targeted intervention or understanding the underlying causes of effects on species.
Functional insights will support better prediction of responses from organisms under different environmental conditions, while understanding of processes in situ also opens novel opportunities for biotechnology.
Underexplored biodiversity
Bioscience research that extends beyond typical model organisms offers substantial new potential for discovery. This could include:
- unculturable microorganisms (microbial ‘dark matter’)
- microbiomes
- wild organisms that are important in an agri-environment or ‘one health’ context such as pests, pollinators and vectors
- biological mechanisms underpinning life living in unusual environments
This can help improve underlying theory and increase reliability in translating fundamental research to practical use.
Innovations from biodiversity
Biobased solutions offer greener and more sustainable alternatives that will often provide direct benefit back to biodiversity; for example, through more sustainable agricultural approaches or addressing pollution.
Biodiversity as a source of innovation and green solutions
There are many applications that can come from understanding fundamental molecular diversity and natural processes, contributing to sustainability and opening opportunities for new products or services. Examples include:
- development of biodiversity-inspired engineering biology innovations relevant to a range of sectors
- harnessing diversity held in genebanks for precision breeding of desirable traits
- use of biocontrols or microbiomes to reduce or replace the need for chemical inputs in agriculture
Protecting biodiversity
Approximately 70% of UK land is used for agriculture, so food production is a key opportunity to positively impact biodiversity and nature recovery through better management.
There is a growing need to use robust, consistent and accurate methods to inform actors in the agri-food sector on how to improve biodiversity, as well as to understand how biodiversity connects to a range of complex systems challenges such as one health and climate change.
Improving food production systems to address biodiversity loss
We’re interested in enabling transition to food production systems that address drivers of biodiversity degradation and support improvements in biodiversity. This includes:
- approaches to better integrate crops and farmed animals into mixed and agro-biodiverse systems (for instance through silvopastures and multi-trophic aquaculture)
- circular production systems that maximise co-benefits (for instance amendments for soil fertility and utilising crop residues for feed)
- novel crops that use knowledge from wild relatives
- better cropping systems
- underutilised crops
All of these could support improved biodiversity and build more resilience to climate effects, pests, or poor growing conditions.
Greater systems-level understanding of biodiversity and how it relates to wider challenges
Systems approaches are vital to understand biodiversity in a practical and policy context, including its links with areas such as:
- antimicrobial resistance
- one health
- climate change
- socioeconomic factors
- how human behaviours might exacerbate disease or other agroecological threats
Multi-scale modelling and systems such as digital twins provide ways to help understand this complexity and explore what makes stable and resilient systems, as well as identifying key vulnerabilities, predicting future system changes with and without interventions, evaluate solutions holistically and improve management approaches.
Technologies and collections
We are also keen to support research that enables biodiversity research through novel technologies and use of key resources like collections. Examples in this space would include developing ways to characterise and digitise collections used by bioscience researchers, or AI methods that can be used to support biodiversity-related research challenges in our remit.
See more information in the BBSRC report ‘Opportunities to advance the role of BBSRC in biodiversity research’ (under ‘Key findings and opportunities’)
These biodiversity research opportunities often complement our other research and innovation priorities, for example:
- sustainable agriculture and food
- one health
- engineering biology
- advanced manufacturing and clean growth