The old Genetics Field Station on Huntingdon Road is being replaced by a brand new facility for evolutionary genetics to be built in Madingley later this year.

The facility will be used in part by Chris Jiggins' research group from Zoology, for research on butterflies and moths. It will offer state of the art facilities for raising insects and carrying out molecular genetic analysis, as well as containment rooms for research on insects that need to be kept isolated, such as insecticide resistant crop pests or disease vectors. Projects that will take advantage of the facility include a study of Bt toxin resistance in the global crop pest, diamondback moth, and studies of wing patterning in tropical butterflies. Work is scheduled to begin in April and if all goes to plan the facility should be ready in time for the 150th Anniversary of publication of the Origin of Species in November 2009.