For example, Reed Johnson does the work correctly. Instead of starting with neonics and trying to prove they cause altered gene expression and then extrapolating the harm to be the factor underlying bee decline, Reed and company look at the declining bees. They look for changes in transcript abundance which would correlate to altered gene expression. Then they look for the cause(s) of the altered gene expression. This is a very different approach.
Considerable variation in gene expression was
associated with the geographical origin of bees, but a consensus
list of 65 transcripts was identified as potential markers for CCD
status. Overall, elevated expression of pesticide response genes
was not observed. Genes involved in immune response showed no
clear trend in expression pattern
No simple explanations for the cause of CCD emerge from the
microarray analysis. Expression of detoxification and immune
gene transcripts, which would indicate toxins or disease as the
cause of CCD, was largely unchanged.
Although gene transcript analysis did not clearly identify a
specific cause for CCD, our study documents several patterns
suggestive of a causal mechanism. The reduced protein synthetic
capabilities that would accompany ribosomal hijacking by multiple
picorna-like viruses would leave bees unable to respond to
additional stresses from pesticides, nutrition, or pathogens.
Although any interpretation of the presence of these rRNA
fragments is speculative, the reported interaction between bee
picorna-like viruses and rRNA is suggestive of a possible root
cause of CCD.
Johnson, R. M., Evans, J. D., Robinson, G. E., & Berenbaum, M. R. (2009). Changes in transcript abundance relating to colony collapse disorder in honey bees (Apis mellifera). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(35), 14790-14795.
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