A Compound that Makes Bees Into Queens Could also Aid Human Stem Cell Therapies

By Anna Funk
Dec 5, 2018 5:16 PMJul 28, 2020 12:41 AM
royal jelly beehive
A queen bee cup with royal jelly in the wax comb of the honey bee (Apis mellifera). (Credit: Mirko Graul/Shutterstock)

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Scientists have announced a breakthrough in stem cell research that could have major implications for medical treatments that involve regenerating human cells. And their discovery came from an unlikely source: royal jelly. It’s the same substance honey bees use to turn a common bee larvae into a queen.

Royal Jelly

A queen bee starts her life just like any other bee – a larva in the honey bee hive, taken care of by her siblings. But when it’s time for a new queen, this larva is pulled aside and fed copious amounts of royal jelly, a nutritious goop secreted by the hive’s nurse bees. This, rather than any genetic differences, is what makes her a queen.

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