How Honey Bees Fight Infections

Bees in their hive

Honey bees, bees in general, play a big role in our daily lives- both directly and indirectly. They provide us honey and help pollinate our crops we use as food or feed for our livestock. However, these creatures are also vulnerable to viruses like any other organism. Like many organisms, they have learned to fight against some of these viruses.

According to an article in Science Daily, honey bees use a variation of genes to protect themselves against viruses. Each year, beekeepers lose approximately a third of their bees due to viral infections. Currently, there are no ways of preventing these infections but scientists have found that RNAi pathways can help combat these viruses. Researchers and beekeepers hope to synthesize RNAi because it effectively destroys viral RNA. If they are successful, they can help to save a large portion of bees lost every year.

This article helps to put things into perspective; while we look in fear at anti-biotic resistant viruses are creeping their ways into our hospitals, we forget that this is also happening to other organisms. It points out that as we create super bugs- viruses are changing in nature, independent of our anti-biotics and affecting other organisms. If the artificial RNAi is created for these viruses, what's stopping the viruses from evolving further?
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