The Molecular Entomology Lab is set up to study insect growth and development at the molecular and genomic levels in an attempt to develop environmental by benign biological agents for forest pest control. We are particularly interested in the molting and diapause processes of the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana, which is one of the most widely distributed and destructive defoliators of several conifers in Canada. We have conducted extensive research on the identification of new target sites for biorational insecticides, development of transgenic viral insecticides and have characterized several physiologically important genes that are involved in molting, hormone regulation, diapause and insecticide resistance. Recently our study has expanded to the genome-wide expression of genes in the spruce budworm. A project has been initiated to study global gene expression in particular tissues such as the midgut, epidermis and fat body by using expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and microarrays. A large-scale ESTs sequencing project is in process. These EST data will be used to identify novel genes that have potential to be used in pest control.