Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://news.azpm.org/p/news-npr/20...ine-could-help-bees-fight-off-deadly-disease/
December 13, 2018
World's First Insect Vaccine Could Help Bees Fight Off Deadly Disease
Researchers say they've found a way to let queen bees pass on immunity to a devastating bacterial disease.
Bees may soon get an ally in their fight against bacterial disease ? one of the most serious threats the pollinators face ? in the form of an edible vaccine. That's the promise held out by researchers in Finland, who say they've made the first-ever vaccine for insects, aimed at helping struggling honeybee populations.
The scientists are targeting one of bees' most deadly enemies: American foulbrood, or AFB, an infectious disease that devastates hives and can spread at a calamitous rate. Often introduced by nurse bees, the disease works by bacteria feeding on larvae ? and then generating more spores, to spread further.
The idea of a potential new weapon to fight AFB has generated excitement in the beekeeping community, along with some skepticism about the claim of a vaccine ? which remains in the testing phase. The news comes three years after the same researchers were hailed in Entomology Today as discovering the "key to bee vaccination."...
December 13, 2018
World's First Insect Vaccine Could Help Bees Fight Off Deadly Disease
Researchers say they've found a way to let queen bees pass on immunity to a devastating bacterial disease.
Bees may soon get an ally in their fight against bacterial disease ? one of the most serious threats the pollinators face ? in the form of an edible vaccine. That's the promise held out by researchers in Finland, who say they've made the first-ever vaccine for insects, aimed at helping struggling honeybee populations.
The scientists are targeting one of bees' most deadly enemies: American foulbrood, or AFB, an infectious disease that devastates hives and can spread at a calamitous rate. Often introduced by nurse bees, the disease works by bacteria feeding on larvae ? and then generating more spores, to spread further.
The idea of a potential new weapon to fight AFB has generated excitement in the beekeeping community, along with some skepticism about the claim of a vaccine ? which remains in the testing phase. The news comes three years after the same researchers were hailed in Entomology Today as discovering the "key to bee vaccination."...