RNAi-Based Drug May Prevent Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder

Drug developers are beginning to respond to the threat posed to world agriculture by the widespread destruction of honeybee hives known as colony collapse disorder (CCD).

When a hive experiences CCD, nearly the entire population disappears from the colony within a matter of days, sometimes leaving behind only the queen and a few stragglers. Over the past several years, about 50%-90% of commercial honeybee colonies in the United States have suffered CCD. This growing threat has sparked great concern as honeybees play an essential role in the pollination of more than 90 types of fruits and vegetables worldwide.

While CDD has been attributed to several different factors or combinations of factors, recent research has implicated Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) identified by Prof. Ilan Sela, a Hebrew University (Jerusalem, Israel) virologist, as a major contributor to the disorder. In studies conducted in the United States, IAPV was found in 83% of colonies that had experienced CCD while being completely absent from apparently healthy colonies. When injected or fed to bees, IAPV caused paralysis and death in 98% of the insects within days, additional evidence linking IAPV to CCD.

To combat IAVP, Beeologics, Inc. (Rehovot, Israel), a biotechnology company specializing in bee health, has developed a drug that protects bees from the effects of IAPV. The drug, which is to be marketed under the name Remebee, is a modified type of interfering RNA (RNAi) that was designed to silence the genes used by IAVP to commandeer the honeybee's genomic machinery.

Remebree is delivered in feed and has been shown to maintain colony health in the presence of the virus. The drug has been found to be extremely specific with no toxicity. No residues of the drug were found in either the bees or in their honey. The inherent robustness of RNAi-based drugs minimizes the possibility of the virus becoming resistant.

"It is really a tug of war between the virus and the host. We are helping the bee tug the rope more strongly and beat the virus. We take advantage of an immune system that the bees elicit for viral disease. But we are really using naturally occurring phenomenon. It is not a pesticide and it is not toxic," said Nitzan Paldi, CTO of Beeologics.

Related Links:
Beelogics
Hebrew University