Multimedia Gallery
European Honeybees in Hive
European honeybees at work in their hive.
European honeybees were the subject of a study where researchers found that changes in gene expression in the brain of the honeybee in response to an immediate threat, have much in common with more long-term and even evolutionary differences in honeybee aggression. The findings lend support to the idea that nurture (an organism's environment) may ultimately influence nature (genetic inheritance).
The study was made possible by a National Science Foundation Frontiers in Biological Research grant led by University of Illinois (UI) medical information science professor and department head Bruce Schatz, who is also an affiliate of the Institute for Genomic Biology.
To learn more, see the UI news story Honey-bee aggression study suggests nurture alters nature. (Date of Image: May 2009)
Credit: Diana Yates, University of Illinois News Bureau
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