Researchers have found that in honey bees there is a regulatory gene, called Egr, that is involved in learning. This gene is also present in vertebrates. In honey bees it becomes active whenever they are in a new place and have to figure out how to find their way around. It was definitely not associated with exercise or visual cues; the researchers saw that the Egr activity occurred only when the bees were in new environments. Because they now know this, researchers may be able to understand just how the honey bees are able to navigate so well. Not only that, but the fact that the gene is also present and important to vertebrates is a good example of how behavioral relationships are "deeply conserved" in evolution.Nature of Science
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130529144329.htm
This is very interesting i wonder what exactly that gene does or codes for that helps the bee find it's way wherever it is, it said that this gene is also present in vertebrates, is it present in humans too?
ReplyDeletehere is a link that talks about the gene
http://www.genecards.org/cgi-bin/carddisp.pl?gene=EGR1
I think it is cool that after so much we have talked about honeybees in the last couple days, you go and do an article on it.That would explain their excellent navigation abilities quite effectively.
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