“Wrong bees” have the gene for autism
Scientists reported that the genes that exist in people with autism spectrum disorders, there are some honey bees.
The study was published in the journal PNAS.
Gene Robinson, Professor of entomology, University of Illinois, said that the behavior of bees can vary: some are more active, others calmly react to the enemy threatening the hive. This is a natural phenomenon, because different insects perform different roles, not all of them play the role of “guards”. However, a number of bees were marked disorder of their functions — for example, nurse bees taking care of larvae that alarmed researchers. “On some jobs the bees always react more acutely than others,” said Robinson. However, one group of bees, studied by American scientists, and actively respond to any tasks.
According to the authors, the lack of social knowledge on the immune bees is reminiscent of the difficulties faced by autistic people. But comparisons of the behavior in this case is not enough — researchers from the University of Illinois analyzed the 246 groups of bees of the seven colonies having genetic differences, to check whether there is a relationship between their behavior and gene expression.