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Episode details

World Service,3 mins

How honeybees evolved to use medicine

CrowdScience

Available for over a year

Many thousands of species of animal have been found to use medicine. It’s a trait that can evolve over time, even in insects. Professor Jaap De Roode from Emory University in the USA explains how selective breeding by bee-keepers may have inadvertently harmed honeybees ability to fight off disease by selecting against their collection of natural antimicrobials.

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