S5.17 Genetics of Society: How to be a queen bee
Sally: Hello, and welcome to Genetics Unzipped with me, Dr Sally Le Page. As we always say, this is the podcast from the Genetics Society, but that’s more true than ever as today we’re looking at the genetics of societies.
How can you find your place within a rigid social structure, and is it possible to rise up the ranks and become queen? Click here for the full episode transcript.
Castes: the sorting hat of societies
Imagine a society where female reproductive rights are a matter of state concern. Where working class females are actively suppressed from having their own children, and only the nobility are allowed to reproduce. It’s also a police state, where everyone is spying on their neighbours, their family even, and if you’re found to have broken the rules, your children will be taken away from you and executed.
Yes, it’s a tough lot being a worker honeybee. So why do these different hierarchies of workers and queens even exist?
Let them eat bee bread! The making of a queen
In the case of the honeybee, it’s impossible for an individual to switch between castes. A worker bee can’t have a midlife crisis, become a queen bee and start producing several hundred eggs a day. But at birth, a bee has the potential to become any caste, just as a stem cell has the potential to become any cell type. All female eggs contain the genes needed to become a queen, as well as all the genes needed to become a worker. So what makes the expression of these genes so different?
Sons of anarchy: the workers are revolting
Conflict and policing between different social groups of bees happens in beehives all around the world, but around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, a much more devious uprising is taking place. The Cape honey bee is its own subspecies, and its workers aren’t just revolting, they’re mutating.
Click here to read a full transcript of this episode.
That’s all for now. We’ll be back next time interviewing Amy Webb and Andrew Hessel about their book, The Genesis Machine. As scientists make advances in synthetic biology and whether or not we could engineer new organisms, do we need to stop to think if we should?
For more information about this podcast including show notes, transcripts, links, references, music credits and everything else head over to geneticsunzipped.com You can find us on Twitter @geneticsunzip and please do take a moment to rate and review us on Apple podcasts - it really makes a difference and helps more people discover the show.
Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Sally Le Page. It is produced by First Create the Media for The Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics. You can find out more and apply to join at genetics.org.uk. Our theme music was composed by Dan Pollard, and the logo was designed by James Mayall, and audio production was by Sally Le Page. Thanks for listening, and until next time, goodbye.
