Submitted by J. Hudson on Wed, 06/05/2026 - 10:26
What do potatoes, pigs, and pollinators have in common? They are all essential to feeding a growing global population, yet modern intensive farming has pushed the natural systems we depend on to a breaking point. As Professor Lynn Dicks from the Department of Zoology notes, “We're taking more out of the environment than the environment can sustain. If you consider nature as capital, it’s like liquidating your assets.”
To address this, researchers across the University are collaborating to find solutions that produce healthy food without the collateral damage. Within our own Department, Professor Dan Tucker and Dr Lucy Weinert are leading critical work tracking the rise of infectious disease in intensive pig farming, aiming to design surveillance programmes and vaccines to reduce disease risk to animals and humans. Dr Lucy Weinert, Department of Veterinary Medicine said "At present there is no effective vaccine for Strep suis and this tool is vital to reduce the reliance on antibiotics in high-density farming environments."
Professor Dan Tucker, Department of Veterinary Medicine said, “We (Tucker and Weinert) collaborate to combine cutting edge evolutionary genomics with real on-farm conditions to better understand the drivers to pathogen emergence in modern day pig production, and to find ways to prevent or manage these - through new vaccines, or other preventive approaches, for the benefit of pigs and people”.
This interdisciplinary effort - spanning from Sebastian Eves-van den Akker’s AI-driven pest resistance in potatoes to Lynn Dicks’ evaluation of Regenerative Agriculture - is a core part of the Global Food Systems Interdisciplinary Research Centre and the School of Biological Sciences’ Global Food Security research theme.
Sustainable food production depends on farmer‑led innovation and rigorous science working together. Read more about the Cambridge-wide network getting involved in one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Read the full story on the Cambridge University News Website: https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/science-and-sustainable-farming-crops-livestock