Bojko Lab Research
"We aim to protect wildlife and understand any underlying disease ecology" - Dr Jamie Bojko
The Bojko Laboratory is a not-for-profit research team that aims to explore symbiont diversity and help diseased animals
In this section, we highlight ongoing areas of research in the Bojko Laboratory
Viruses in Antarctic Sea Spiders
Antarctica is surrounded by the Southern Ocean, which houses an immense diversity of unexplored sea creatures. Viral communities in this area remain little explored and the Bojko Laboratory is working with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) to unveil their diversity.
The Moss Ecosphere
Mosses (Bryophytes) are a diverse group, which house unique communities of animals, microbes, and viruses. With funding from the British Bryological Society, the Bojko Laboratory and associated colleagues are cataloguing the diversity hidden in UK mosses.
Can we smell an infection?
Using crabs as a model system, we are determining whether infected crabs give off an 'ill' scent. By understanding the volatile profile of ill and healthy crabs, we hope to develop an advanced diagnostic system that can determine when a population, or individuals, are becomming ill.
Harbour Seal Mouth Rot
Harbour seals around the UK are suffering from mouth rot. As a part of some Defra-funded research, we are providing detailed information on the pathobiome associated with mouth rot in this seal species. We hope to expand this study to have a greater influence on policy surrounding seal health, and develop pathogen detection tools for rapid beach side and rehabilitation assessment.
Determining fishery-associated health in Jonah Crab, USA
The Jonah crab, Cancer borealis, is a new target species for the development of a sustainable fishery in the USA. The Bojko Laboratory is helping to uncover symbiont diversity to get ahead on our understanding of disease in this species.
Our team have already published outputs from this project.
Viewing infections in 3D
Using the latest in mico-CTscanning, we are exploring the infection process of pathogens known to infect the demon shrimp, Dikerogammarus haemobaphes. This project is in association with Dr Amber Collings at Keel University.
