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.

  • HasturInYellow@lemmy.worldEnglish
    21·
    16 hours ago

    The GOOD news is that yeast doesn’t really respect property lines. Or quarantines. Or much of anything. That shit will spread organically easily enough. It will be a while, but now that the strain exists (and is being constantly refreshed with the corpro product) it should help all bees everywhere. Maybe bees will start farming it like ants do. Would be fun

    • minorkeys@lemmy.worldEnglish
      182·
      1 day ago

      So does Monsanto with their GMO crops and they successfully sue farmers for having it, whose farms were invaded by it. I don’t see it as good news when a company can’t control their IP. They’ll criminalize possession and use that to drive weak competitors out all together. These people are psychopaths.

      • HasturInYellow@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        17 hours ago

        Forgive me, it’s not good news that a company has it. That’s evil and they will destroy people lives. BUT the yeast exists now. When we die out because we are unimaginably stupid, that yeast is likely to live on and help the bees to do so as well. The bees i more worried about because they don’t love heat