Welcome to a bee-free honey future

A bee-free honey future. PHOTO | SHUTTERSTOCK.

The world could soon be enjoying honey, without bees. This is courtesy of the work of 12 students from the Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology in Israel. They developed bee-free honey using the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, in a laboratory. According to a report published on the BeeFree website, the bacteria “learns” to make honey through reprogramming in a laboratory. The team won a gold medal at the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition held in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, recently.