Skip to main content

Illinois IGB

Robinson

Team finds gene that helps honey bees find flowers

May 25, 2013

Team finds gene that helps honey bees find flowers (and get back home)

Honey bees don’t start out knowing how to find flowers or even how to get around outside the hive. Before they can forage, they must learn how to navigate a changing landscape and orient themselves in relation to the sun.

In a new study, researchers report that a regulatory gene known to be involved in learning and the detection of novelty in vertebrates also kicks into high gear in the brains of honey bees when they are learning how to find food and bring it home.


May 25, 2013


Related Articles

Insects Have Personalities Too, Research on Honey Bees Indicates

March 14, 2012

A new study in Science suggests that thrill-seeking is not limited to humans and other vertebrates. Some honey bees, too, are more likely than others to seek adventure. The brains of these novelty-seeking bees exhibit distinct patterns of gene activity in molecular pathways known to be associated with thrill-seeking in humans, researchers report.


March 14, 2012


Related Articles

New IGB Director Takes the Helm

March 15, 2011

New IGB Director Takes the Helm

Genomics of Neural and Behavioral Plascticity Theme Leader Gene E. Robinson has accepted the position of Interim Director of the Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), pending approval of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Robinson will succeed Founding IGB Director Harris Lewin, who is leaving the University to become Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of California at Davis.


March 15, 2011


Related Articles

Subscribe to Robinson