Scientists To Create Bee Sperm Bank To Preserve Species
Scientists To Create Bee Sperm Bank To Preserve Species
WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information.
Sign up for our newsletters
to stay up to date on the stories that matter.
Honeybees are under stress from pests, disease and pesticides. As a result, large numbers die each year.
To preserve bee genetics for future generations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is creating a bee gene bank to store bee sperm and embryos. It’s something commonly done for humans and most domesticated animals, but it’s more challenging to freeze insect embryos and bring them back to life.
As Dan Gunderson from Minnesota Public Radio reports, the best scientists in the world at insect cryopreservation are in Fargo, North Dakota.
Reporter
- Dan Gunderson, reporter for Minnesota Public Radio. He tweets @gundersondan.
Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit NPR.