The 海角乱伦 takes part in campaign with Dame Helen Mirren
The 海角乱伦 has taken part in a campaign鈥痠nvolving鈥疍ame Helen Mirren to tackle a dangerous bacterium from spreading to the UK.鈥&苍产蝉辫;A video, featuring Dame Helen has been released explaining the dangers of Xylella, urging the British public to be aware of the dangers.
Xylella Fastidiosa鈥痠s a bacterium which blocks the plumbing systems in plants and prevents them from absorbing water. This causes鈥痩eaf scorch, wilting, die back and even plant death. There is no鈥痥nown鈥痗ure.鈥&苍产蝉辫;
The effects of this bacterium could be disastrous because in order to comply with European law, you must remove all plant species within one hundred meters of the infected plant. This in turn could have a devastating effect of the British鈥痟orticultural industry. For example, if it were to be found in a plant nursery, you must destroy all the plants within the nursery, causing it to go out of business.鈥&苍产蝉辫;
The university is part of鈥叠搁滨骋滨罢,鈥which鈥was established in 2018 by The John Innes Centre in Norwich. It is鈥痑 melting pot of universities and researchers across the UK with the goal of preparing for the arrival of the Xylella virus.鈥&苍产蝉辫;As part of鈥BRIGIT, the university is developing computer models to track how the epidemic spreads. Using this model, we design strategies to detect it.鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Dr Stephen Parnell,鈥疪eader in Spatial Epidemiology at The 海角乱伦 who sits on a panel with The European Food Safety Authority said: 鈥淯sually what happens is that something arrives and gets out of control. Then there is a big research project to see what we can do.鈥&苍产蝉辫;BRIGIT is about anticipating how we can catch it and prevent it.鈥濃&苍产蝉辫;
Currently,鈥痵cientists cannot establish if it has been exposed to UK plants, but 鈥BRIGIT鈥&苍产蝉辫;is focused on preventing the problem, rather than finding a solution.鈥&苍产蝉辫;Dr Parnell added: 鈥淭he good thing about 鈥BRIGIT 鈥is that it is trying to be proactive before the disease arrives.鈥&苍产蝉辫;It is about having a range of different solutions and trying to get everything into place."鈥&苍产蝉辫;
What is so dangerous about the disease is that unlike other plant-targeting鈥痸iruses, it targets many types of plants, leaving many鈥痵pecies of plants in Britain鈥檚 vast ecosystem vulnerable to exposure. The virus was traditionally only found in North and South America, feeding off citrus plants, but in 2013 it was discovered in Puglia, in Southern Italy and has been spreading across Europe ever since.鈥&苍产蝉辫;
To join the conversation, use the hashtags #BRIGITXylella #IYPH2020 and .
For all press office enquiries please email communications@salford.ac.uk.
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