Scientists have developed a breakthrough “superfood” for honeybees by engineering yeast to produce the essential nutrients normally found in pollen. In controlled trials, colonies fed this specially designed diet produced up to 15 times more young, showing a dramatic boost in reproduction and overall health. As climate change and modern agriculture reduce the availability of natural pollen, this innovation could offer a practical way to support struggling bee populations.

Using CRISPR-Cas9, scientists engineered a yeast to produce the nutrient feed. Farmers could have it in two years.

  • FUCKING_CUNO@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    8·
    3 days ago

    This is both great and terrible. Great because “yay bees”, terrible because now they have a synthetic stand in for a natural process which will almost certainly be misused

    Instead of just PLANTING SOME FUCKING FLOWERS

      • Logi@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 days ago

        Where I live, honey is labeled with the types of flowers that the bees were feeding on. I doubt that “yeast honey” is going to replace the “chestnut honey” any time soon.

    • Sculptus Poe@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      3 days ago

      Well, domestic bees are intrusive. I wonder if they are going to try to feed this to wild bees… Probably not. Still, I want domestic bees to flourish, because I like honey, so I’m not that mad.

      • ButteryMonkey@piefed.socialEnglish
        2·
        3 days ago

        I don’t like honey so the things I do will be 100% to support non-honey bees because they are far far far more valuable than invasive honey bees ever could be…e.

        I love my native bees. Especially mason bees. I love that they can’t be commercialized. I hate that people don’t care about them because they can’t be commercialized and that’s the whole reason my yard is mostly wild.

        Fuuuuuuuck honey and the damage it causes the natural ecosystem. Fuck importing plants and making them work through invasive agriculture. If something can’t grow because we can’t keep the bees here because they aren’t native here…. TOO FUCKING BAD! Import it, don’t ruin the ecosystem trying to make it work.

        • LincolnsDogFido@lemmy.zipEnglish
          1·
          2 days ago

          I’d bet my life savings you don’t actually feel this strongly about honey bees. And secondly, honey bees don’t need “invasive agriculture” to survive or produce honey. They produce honey just fine from natural wildflowers and wildflowers benefit all the same from pollination.