London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Insects outnumber us 200 million to one and they thrive in environments where humans wouldn’t last minutes. What's the secret behind their global domination and how is science using insect anatomy to develop life-saving technology?

Dr James Logan, medical entomologist and Chief Scientific Officer for arctec at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, has been exploring the incredible alien anatomy of insects for BBC 4 programme Insect Dissection: How Insects Work.

Alongside United States entomologist Brendan Dunphy, Dr Logan has carried out a series of insect dissections. Stripping back the layers, they looked at ingenious body systems and finely tuned senses – a bug body plan that is the hidden blueprint behind insects’ global domination. Their findings will be shown using cutting edge imaging technology

Dr Logan said: “In this exciting programme we show how insects are nature's transformers with a bolt on kit of parts that allow them to do things that we can only dream of. And we find out what we can learn from insects and put these natural pieces of engineering to our own use, like designing airborne robots that might one day search for survivors in collapsed buildings, or pollinate plants if bee populations decline.”

Watch Insect Dissection: How Insects Work on BBC 4, Wednesday 20 March, 9-10pm.

**Update 21.03.13: Insect Dissection: How Insects Work is available to watch on BBC iPlayer in the UK until 27 March 2013**

Relevant Courses

• MSc Medical Entomology for Disease Control
• MSc Medical Parasitology
• MSc Control of Infectious Diseases