Fluorescent protein sheds light on bee brains
Published:23 Mar.2023 Source:Heinrich-Heine University Duesseldorf
An international team of bee researchers involving Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has integrated a calcium sensor into honey bees to enable the study of neural information processing including response to odours. This also provides insights into how social behaviour is located in the brain, as the researchers now report in the scientific journal PLOS Biology.
Insects are important so-called model organisms for research. Despite more than 600 million years of independent evolution, insects share more than 60% of their DNA with humans. For several decades it was mainly the fruit fly whose genetic code could be used to study biological processes. Later, such research was expanded to other insects, with particularly promising results coming from the honey bee. Bees display complex social behaviour -- they perform sophisticated behaviours while employing orientation, communication, learning and memory abilities, which make them interesting subjects for research into the brain's function and neural processing.