Moths are active at night and like other insects use chemical cues in the environment to find a mate, avoid danger, lay eggs, and find food. Researchers are studying biosynthesis and regulation of sex pheromones and the pheromone detection system to better understand this complex and species-specific communication. Researchers use sequencing to study the olfactory binding proteins and receptors in closely related moth species. Sequencing is helping us study these complex communication systems, so we can work towards mimicking the female sex pheromone as an alternative to pesticides, which also affect non-target organisms. For more information on applications of Illumina technology in the field of Transcriptomics, please visit us at Illumina: RNA sequencing http://www.illumina.com/applications/sequencing/rna.ilmn Products: HiSeq: http://www.illumina.com/systems/hiseq_2500_1500.ilmn MiSeq: http://www.illumina.com/systems/miseq.ilmn TruSeq RNA: http://www.illumina.com/sequencing/sequencing_kits/truseq_rna_sample_prep_kit.ilmn Publication Links: PMID: 25066916 | Koutroumpa FA., et al. (2014): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25066916 PMID: 24998398 | Zhang S., et al. (2014): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24998398 Publication Research Reviews: Metagenomics 2nd Edition http://www.illumina.com/documents/products/research_reviews/metagenomics_research_review.pdf The Science Mondays (SciMon) series is brought to you by Illumina http://www.illumina.com/ Illumina hosts Swati Kadam, Ph.D., Scientific Liaison, Scientific Affairs and Jacques Retief, Associate Director Scientific Affairs deliver 5 minutes of scientific enlightenment on the latest discoveries.