Diverse work done by Professor Brock Harpur and his team at Harpur Lab

Harpur Lab, Purdue University

Professor Harpur is fascinated by these ‘GOLDEN’ insects, at least that's one word that comes to his mind when he thinks about honeybees. When asked why, he mentions, apart from the color of the bees themselves, he remembers a quote he heard that states “Honeybees are like a golden well, every time I reach in, I find something new.”

So true, there are endless new and interesting things to discover about honeybees! In fact, it is so well demonstrated by the varied kinds of work and research done at the Harpur Lab! Currently, the lab has been involved in the following research areas: Evolution of social immunity, Genomics, Defense Response and Brazilian Bees, Genome Sequencing.

Professor Harpur further says genomics research for honeybees is quite challenging, compared to other organisms, like C. elegans. However, when asked then why not study C. elegans instead, he responds by saying that honeybees have a remarkable social structure and a class system, there is a cultural background associated with honeybees he appreciates, and an agricultural background he is interested in.

Note that Professor Harpur was one of the ten recipients of the 2022 New Innovator in Food and Agriculture Research Awards!

Harpur Lab: https://beemolevo.com/