Believe it: Science creates bees from

Bees with bloodshot eyes, burning like creatures from hell. But at the same time, they are important proofs of the breakthrough in genetic modification technology of humankind.

Look at the bee in the picture below and say how you feel. Dare to fish that 9 out of 10 people will think of creatures coming from hell, or a dangerous place, because the bee has bright red eyes.

The horror bee is a product of scientists at the University of California Riverside. By some genetic modification, they created bees with red eyes, like monsters in Hollywood movies.

But what are these red-eyed bees? In fact, these bees in addition to the color of their eyes are no different from ordinary bees. The problem lies in the fact that they are products that show people are capturing the most powerful and breakthrough genetic modification methods currently available: CRISPR .

Specifically, CRISPR is a technology that allows the modification of each DNA in the genome - which is a human dream for decades. Experts using CRISPR-Cas9 technology to "cut and paste" protein fragments in DNA, with extreme accuracy and speed are also faster than any other method.

These red-eyed bees can be considered as the first test of genetic modification with CRISPR of hymenopteran (hymenopteran - the world's third largest insect, including ants, bees .). In addition, the reason for choosing them for experiments is due to the animal's ability to rapidly evolve, derived from the ability to reproduce rapidly and quickly.

" To perform the experiment, we need an extremely perfect needle and a microscope, so that thousands of embryos can be injected into their eyes, " said Ormar Akbari, associate professor of entomology. "Workers' skills also need to be strong, and require very high patience."

Essentially, experts "cut" a piece of DNA responsible for the bee's usual black eye color."We want to target the gene segment that has a clear expression, and based on previous studies, we know that if the eye pigment gene is removed, the eye will be red, " - Akbari added. "It will be a suitable target for genetic modification testing."

In addition, experts say that because red eye color is caused by interference with the genetic structure, the later generations of these bees inherited that trait.

Many people judge that this will be a turning point of genetically modified technology. Because genetic modification with such a high level of accuracy will minimize the possibility of unwanted characteristics appearing in the experiment. That means, the ability to create monsters like in Hollywood is extremely low.