Yolanda Bel. I studied Biology (major in Biochemistry) and received my Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Valencia (UV) in 1991. The Ph.D., which dealt with biochemical genetics of pteridines in Drosophila melanogaster and in patients with atypical phenylketonuria, was carried out in both the Department of Genetics of the UV and the Biology Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge (Tennessee, USA). I performed my postdoctoral research (1992-1993) in the Department of Genetics in Sandoz Pharma SAE, Basel, Switzerland, working on DNA adducts. After a contract at the University of Valencia (1993-1996), where I started working on the entomocidal bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), I completed a “Master in Industrial Wastewater Treatment”, and worked for six years in microbiology of water and food in the private industry. In 2003, I returned to the University of Valencia, where I am still working as a Research Associate in the CBP group at the ERI-biotecmed. My current research interests englobe the study of the binding of Bt toxins to the insect’s midguts, the study of their mode of action and the biochemical and genetic bases of the insect resistance. Furthermore, I’m also interested in the research on novel Bt strains and insecticidal protein genes for the development of Bt-based insecticides to control agricultural insect pests, as well as the study of response of the pest insects (at the gene level) to the bacterial and viral pathogens.