Geneticly engineered bees

BernhardHeuvel said:

Studies and papers accumulate about the genetic engineering of the honeybee.
Kim, I‐H, Kim, D‐J, Gwak, W‐S, Woo, S‐D. Increased survival of the honey bee Apis melliferainfected with the microspordian Nosema ceranae by effective gene silencing. Arch Insect Biochem Physiol. 2020;e21734. https://doi.org/10.1002/arch.21734
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/arch.21734

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While an interesting study, this is not a GMO'd bee. They are feeding the bees a dsRNA via their food which has the capability of entering Nosema and killing it. Essentially, the Nosema accidentally loads the dsRNA into what is normally an anti-viral pathway. This pathway usually targets and destroys viral genomes within cells, but the sequence of the added dsRNA "tricks" this system into targeting a critical Nosema gene, leading to its death.

It is possible to GMO a dsRNA directly into bees, and is an approach to treat diseases outside of the bees gut (e.g. there were trials along these lines for varroa and DWV in the past), but in this case you don't actually need to GMO the bee to see the benefit. Essentially, its a genetically-targeted pesticide, which is pretty cool as - if designed properly - there is no risk to other organisms in the environment.

https://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2020/0289643.html

Method and System for Protecting Honey Bees From Pesticides

A method and system for the treatment of honey bees (Apis mellifera), bats, and butterflies protects them from various life threatening conditions, including Colony Collapse Disorder, white nose syndrome, etc. and in particular, provides honey bees, bats and butterflies with the ability to assimilate and degrade pesticides such as neonicotinoids and fipronil.

What is claimed is:

1. A method for providing a honey bee with the ability to assimilate pesticides, comprising, inoculating a honey bee with a culture of pesticide degrading bacteria, wherein the pesticide degrading bacteria include genes whose expression by the pesticide degrading bacteria results in the degradation of the pesticide, said pesticide degrading bacteria being modified to include said genes using a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) CRISPR associated protein (Cas) system or using a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) from prevotella and francisella 1 (Cpf1) nuclease.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said genes express cytochrome P450 enzymes.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said genes comprise P450 genes of the CYP6 and CYP3 clade.

4. The method as set forth in claim 3 wherein the genes are selected from the group of CYP6ER1, CYP6G1, CYP6Y3, and CYP353D1v2.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the genes are selected from the group consisting of CYP6AS1, CYP6AS3, CYP6AS4, CYP6AS10, CYP9Q1, CYP9Q2 and CYP9Q3.

6. A method for providing a honey bee with the ability to assimilate pesticides, comprising, inoculating a honey bee with a culture of pesticide degrading bacteria, wherein the pesticide degrading bacteria include genes whose expression by the pesticide degrading bacteria results in the degradation of the pesticide, and said pesticide degrading bacteria being modified to include said genes using a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) CRISPR associated protein (Cas) system.

7. The method as set forth in claim 6, wherein said genes express cytochrome P450 enzymes.

8. The method as set forth in claim 6, wherein said genes comprise P450 genes of the CYP6 and CYP3 clade.

9. The method as set forth in claim 8, wherein the genes are selected from the group of CYP6ER1, CYP6G1, CYP6Y3, and CYP353D1v2.

10. The method as set forth in claim 6, wherein the genes are selected from the group consisting of CYP6AS1, CYP6AS3, CYP6AS4, CYP6AS10, CYP9Q1, CYP9Q2 and CYP9Q3.

11. A method for providing a honey bee with the ability to assimilate pesticides, comprising, inoculating the gut of a honey bee with a culture of microbes that normally inhabit the honey bee gut, said microbes possessing the ability to degrade at least one pesticide, said microbes comprising pesticide degrading bacteria that have genes selected from the group consisting of a CYP353D1v2 gene and a SCL3-10 nitrile hydratase beta subunit gene, and wherein the pesticide degrading microbes have been modified using a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) CRISPR associated protein (Cas) system or using a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) from prevotella and francisella 1 (Cpf1) nuclease such that the expression of said genes results in the degradation by said microbes of at least one pesticide.

12. The method as set forth in claim 11, wherein said genes express cytochrome P450 enzymes.

13. The method as set forth in claim 11, wherein said genes comprise P450 genes of the CYP6 and CYP3 clade.

14. The method as set forth in claim 13 wherein the genes are selected from the group of CYP6ER1, CYP6G1, CYP6Y3, and CYP353D1v2.

15. The method as set forth in claim 11, wherein the genes are selected from the group consisting of CYP6AS1, CYP6AS3, CYP6AS4, CYP6AS10, CYP9Q1, CYP9Q2 and CYP9Q3.