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The transition from human hunter-gathering to agriculture occurred approximately 10,000 years ago and is often heralded as a major transition in human evolution. However, millions of years earlier, several other unsuspecting species had already taken the step towards intensive agriculture and were busy cultivating their own crop varieties. Termites, ants, bees and wasps comprise a large group of insects called the Hymenoptera, many of which form vast societies, each made up o

Why do I do what I do? Well firstly, what do I do? My PhD is in molecular microbiology, which means I study the molecular fundamentals of microbes - the nuts and bolts of microscopic life. Think of me as like a mechanic for cells, except I don’t really know how the engine works, so I just break random bits to see what happens. Specifically, I look at a type of bacteria called Streptomyces, they are weird (for bacteria) because, unlike most, they grow in long chains of cells (