Australische Wissenschaftler verändern genetisch die Art einer gewöhnlichen Fliege, damit diese mehr menschliche Abfälle frisst | Schwarze Soldatenfliegen könnten helfen, die klimaerwärmende Methanmenge zu reduzieren, die bei der Zersetzung organischer Abfälle entsteht, sagt ein Team der Macquarie University

From the article: A team of Australian scientists is genetically engineering a common fly species so that it can eat more of humanity’s organic waste while producing ingredients for making everything from lubricants and biofuels to high-grade animal feeds.

Black soldier flies are already being used commercially to consume organic waste, including food waste, but tweaking their genetics could widen the range of waste their larvae consume while, in the process, producing fatty compounds and enzymes.

In a [scientific paper](https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06516-8), the team based at Sydney’s Macquarie University outlined their hopes for the flies and how they could also cut the amount of planet-warming methane produced when organic waste breaks down.

“We are heading towards a climate disaster, and landfill waste releases methane. We need to get that to zero,” Dr Kate Tepper, a lead author of the paper, said.

Dr Maciej Maselko runs an animal synthetic biology lab at Macquarie University where Tepper has already started engineering the flies.

Maselko said insects would be the “next frontier” in dealing with the planet’s waste management problem, which weighs in at about 1bn tonnes a year in food waste alone.

Black soldier flies are found in all continents except Antarctica. “If you’ve got a compost bin, then you’ve probably got some,” Maselko said.

The fly larvae can eat double their body weight a day and, like other insects, their larvae are used for animal feed. Maselko said the flies could already do the job of consuming waste faster than microbes.