>Very cool! I'm curious how this work started: were you - personally - interested in reducing the use of mammalian models? Were you always interested in insect models or was this project just kind of handed to you?
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>I'm always curious about scientist's personal connections to their projects (if they have any).
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>P.S. I work in the microbiome space too, and am super excited about any research that could reduce the number of mice my lab has to use :)

Hi, Thank you for your comment!
Yes, to be honest, it was hard for me to use mice for experiments (Although using small mammals like mice in science is absolutely necessary!). However, I felt like alternatives are under-studied, and not enough attention is paid to this area. So I started with caterpillars, and because I had access to a medical imaging facility, I trayed to image gut inflammation in Manduca sexta caterpillars (as a side project). In the end, it turned out very well, and we showed that scientists could use the larva-based imaging platform for early preclinical hypothesis testing.
Of course, caterpillars will not replace mice. Still, they can be used in the early stages of research, eventually reducing the use of small mammals at the end of translation (at least for gut inflammation and microbiomics).