came across this...i suspect that this is the first of many as our understanding of how larger organisms interact with microbes.  this isn't really bee related, but claims to be the first instance of known "beneficial virus".

deknow


http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/cancer/mg19826615.100-leukaemia-virus-may-protect-against-stomach-cancer.html
 

A VIRUS that occasionally causes leukaemia may have a good side.

People in Kamigoto, Japan, have high rates of infection with human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV-1), which can cause leukaemia. They also seem unusually free of stomach cancer, despite being no less likely than other populations to be infected with the bacterium that can trigger the disease.

When Satohiro Matsumoto of Narao Hospital in Nagasaki compared 500 residents carrying HTLV-1 and 500 free of the virus, 7 per cent of those who were virus-free developed stomach cancer, about three times the incidence in those with the virus (The Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol 198, p 10). While many bacteria are good for us, this is the first known case of a beneficial virus.

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