The Institute of Environmental and Agricultural Biology (X-BIO) at Tyumen State University is one of the research centers in Russia dealing with biosafety issues. This year, it will celebrate its fourth birthday. The decision to create the center was made by the university's scientific council on November 27, 2017. In this short time, X-BIO has managed to make itself known not only nationally, but internationally as well, becoming one of the university's flagships in scientific research.

Employees at the Institute participate in projects at the West Siberian Interregional Scientific and Educational Center, the Kuchak Lake Carbon Range Project, and create their own laboratories. Andrei Tolstikov, Senior Vice-Rector of Tyumen State University, told TASS about alternatives to antibiotics scientists are looking for, how biologists participate in the digitalization of agriculture and why we need to engage in bioethics.

X-BIO Institute’s field of work

According to Tolstikov, the new institute was shaped by the events happening in the world. The global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic more commonly known as the new coronavirus, which broke out in 2020, numerous outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses, African swine fever and other dangerous diseases around the world, as well as yield losses of some crops due to diseases and pesticide resistant pests. All this has determined the vector of the new institute's development, Tolstikov said.

X-BIO is taking an active part in creating a world-class center for biosafety within the framework of the West Siberian Interregional Scientific and Educational Center and is implementing a number of projects within the framework of the Scientific and Educational Center for Human, Animal and Plant Biosafety.

As the senior vice-rector notes, the year 2020 was a significant one in the history of the institute, winning the project of the federal scientific and technical program for the development of genetic technologies under the leadership of West Siberian Interregional Scientific and Educational Centeracademician Andrei Lisitsa on the topic of microbiomes of agrocenoses. "Under the banner of the new project, six research teams from the X-BIO Institute got involved in solving problems to create an entirely new type of land management that can restore soil quality," Tolstikov said. Amongst their numerous projects, scientists are also working on Russia's first carbon test site at the university's biostation on Lake Kuchak.

Modern research in the hands of young people

By early next year, the Institute is expected to have new laboratories led by young researchers. In December, the ecological genetics and metagenomics laboratory, which was created on the money of the genetic technologiesgrant, will become operational and will be headed by Evgeny Simonov. Early next year, insect systematics and phylogenetics laboratory, headed by Maria Salnitskaya, will be launched. The laboratory, created as part of the Research Center, which deals with resource-efficient biomass processing technologies, is already beginning its work, headed by Ivan Shanenkov, an Alferov scholar.

"In addition, the X-BIO Institute will be the university’s central research uniting several "Priority 2030" Strategic Academic Leadership Program projects, which has received federal funding. These projects will address even larger tasks, expand the scientific agenda, and create long-term alliances with Russian and foreign partner organizations," Tolstikov says.

Why the work of the Institute is so important

The relevance of ensuring biological safety will only increase, according to Tyumen University’s senior vice-rector. "Pathogens and pests are becoming more resistant to chemical agents. The so-called superbacteria are even found in Greenland and Antarctica, in the Amazon jungle. They are resistant to most antibiotics used in medicine and veterinary medicine. Finding new effective antibiotics in nature or synthesizing them is becoming increasingly difficult, and addiction to them is developing more and more rapidly," Tolstikov notes.

Traditional chemical agents are being replaced by biological methods of plant and animal protection. The Institute’s antimicrobial resistance laboratory headed by Alexei Vasilchenko along with several groups of entomologists and acarologists is actively engaged in this work. The scientists are looking for new species of predatory insects and mites that can effectively regulate the number of pests of cultivated plants.

The role of biologists in the digitalization of agriculture

As Andrey Tolstikov notes, digitalization in agriculture is gaining momentum. The technical means to make this transition already exist, but they need to be adapted to specific agricultural enterprises. Specialists need to develop software and create specific package cases.

X-BIO is not on the sidelines. A search youth laboratory called AgroBioIT was created under the leadership of Aidar Fakhrutdinov. Its projects involve graduate and undergraduate students of various technical specialties. For example, they recently created a new product, a simulator for drone operators, which has already found customers and commercial prospects, said the senior vice-rector.

At the intersection of ethics and genetics

"The development of the latest technologies in the field of genetics must go together with the assessment of the ethical aspects of modifying biological and natural objects. Accordingly, there is an increased need for those specialists who can professionally evaluate these or other initiatives to introduce bioethics into training programs," Tolstikov believes.

According to him, the Institute is discussing plans to train personnel in bioethics.