The social honey bee in biomedical research: realities and expectations

The social honey bee, Apis mellifera, is an organism of great value for behavioural, ecological and evolutionary studies. It is also an important agricultural insect and a source of allergies. In recent years its usefulness for research communities has been significantly expanded as a result of progress in genomics and epigenomics. While the bee is not to be misjudged as a model for a specific human disease, it complements other invertebrate models in areas of DNA methylation, metaboloepigenetics and is a source of medically and epigenetically active compounds. This article outlines the anticipated benefits flowing from the epigenome-inspired projects in honey bees and draws attention to the most promising avenues that are likely to strengthen the value of this organism in biomedical research.