No man is an island

There has to be some compensation for spending your research life peering deep in the guts of crustaceans.

And even though Ben Allardyce has still to get his PhD, he could well claim to have already discovered it. Islands.

His work had already taken the talented young Deakin researcher to tropical Christmas Island before he won a Neil Archbold Memorial Travel Fellowship last year.

Now he can add the equally exotic Helgoland to the list.

Inter alia, these waters around the two tiny islands in the North Sea were the venue for the first naval Battle of World War I. The islands, one barely big enough for a runway; the other home to about 2000 inhabitants, have since 1892 had a globally regarded biological institute, part of the attraction for Ben.

“My research involves looking at the digestive enzymes in crustaceans, specifically how they have adapted these enzymes to a terrestrial diet,” Ben said.

“It was a really fantastic opportunity for me and I learned a lot, definitely.

“I had already had the trip to Christmas Island but that is part of Australia even though it’s closer to Indonesia.

“So this was my first trip out of Australia, and my first chance to work in a laboratory other than the one here in Deakin.”

Ben says that while his project at this stage is essentially knowledge for knowledge’s sake, there may well be an enticing commercial outcome further down the track.

“Initially it was thought these enzymes, known as cellulases, didn’t exist in crustaceans,” he said.

“Then they were discovered in insects like termites, and more recently in crustaceans like the Christmas Island red crab as they have adapted to a terrestrial diet.

“The samples I took to Helgoland were from the Christmas Island crabs.

“It is not yet known how many enzymes they have or how efficient they are or how specific they are to what they break down.

“All that we do know is that these enzymes have become specialised in order to break down terrestrial plant material.

“Further down the track there maybe a commercial outcome for these enzymes.

“They could be used in the production of biofuel, but at this stage, we’re a fair way away from that.”

A few more islands away, perhaps!

To find out more about Neil Archbold and the Travel Awards made in his memory:
http://www.deakin.edu.au/research/stories/dynamic.php?story_id=64

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