Ever listen of whiteflies ? They ’re the color of snowflakes and practically as flyspeck , but they ’re global plant - killers . One of their favorite snacks is the cassava , a root word that ’s a essential staple food for 700 million people worldwide . But one computational biologist and her squad are on a mission to save the manioc from this virus - hold menace .
The whitefly is an extremely slippery pest . They ’re found all over the humankind , transmit works viruses , and can become insecticide - resistive . With all the 600 plant type they feast on , they cause billions of dollar in hurt a class , since it renders granger ’ wares uneatable and unsellable .
Meanwhile , the cassava starch plant is lifeblood for people living on multiple continents , from South America to Asia to Africa . The starchy stem is thethird mostimportant calorie source in the tropics , after Sir Tim Rice and maize . It ’s even used to make tapioca , and the bubbles in bubble tea . Well , alas , the whitefly bed the poppycock , too . Not only do they rust cassava plant and its source , but the whiteflies transfer industrial plant viruses that lay waste to it , as well . These viruses are channel in the same way mosquitoes can carry malarial sponger to humankind when they bite us . By the time whitefly get done with cassava plant life , it puts many , many the great unwashed not only out of food for thought , but also out of income , since they ca n’t deal their cassavas .
The horrific whitefly , aka Bemisia tabaci . ikon viaYouTube
Luckily , Laura Boykin , a computational life scientist andTED fellowat the University of Western Australia , has made it her mission to neutralize that cassava - destroying scourge . She and her colleagues used a supercomputer to bring forth a phyletic tree , or a kind of family tree , of the whitefly . It present the squad that there are actually a whopping 34 metal money of whitefly globally . Previously , scientist believed there was only one . ( Goes to show how piddling about this worm was know previously , since funding was scarce . ) All theirdatais publicly available .
The Magnus supercomputer . Image viaPawsey Centre
Thesupercomputer used , by the path , isMagnus — the fastest supercomputer in the Southern Hemisphere , also used in radio astronomy . Magnus , a petascale Cray XC40 supercomputer at Australia ’s Pawsey Supercomputer Centre in Perth is crucial in the process . ( Pawsey says that , with a dataset of only 500 whitefly , the possible relationship between these flies reach the octillions — that ’s a one with 27 0 . you’re able to see why a supercomputer is key here . ) Magnus help Boykin and her team picture out which whitefly mintage are similar , and what form of fly last where .
What can we do with this data ? We can figure out which species of whitefly is eating cassava in a given region , and can more well combat them . The plants can be bred to resist the right species . There ’s also now not bad expected value from the chemical substance ship’s company , who need to test their product on not just one metal money , but all 34 . It ’s all more study — but it ’s a job that ca n’t be ignored anymore .
Boykin and her team were pick out as one of the14 innovatorsby the United Nations to address the body’s17 Sustainable Development Goals . Boykin present alongside the other winners , who were select out of over 800 entries worldwide , at UN Headquarters in New York last calendar month .
casava is something that over a half billion world depend on to survive . This inquiry team ’s efforts are making certain that cassava remains as dependable as possible .
Top image : Boykin and fellow researcher Donald Kachigamba ( remaining ) scrutinise whiteflies on cassava leaves on a farm in Uganda . trope via University of Western Australia Facebook
This narrative is part of a special series about the United Nations ’ plans to resolve global issuance using emerging engineering . take more about ithere .
touch the author at[email protect ] , orfollow him on Twitter .
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