Beecosystem
Bioengineering to save bees through beer
Recipient of the Intrexon Award for Food & Agriculture at the 2017 Biodesign Challenge at the Museum of Modern Art
BACKGROUND
Our food system relies on bees as our primary pollinators. According to the USDA, bees do $11-15 billion worth of work for American farmers every year. Unfortunately, bee colonies face extinction – a phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). One of the primary causes of CCD is the parasitic varroa mite.
Hops are commonly used to flavor and preserve beer. They grow in specific regions that have been threatened by climate change. In 2015, 24 breweries including Guinness and Allagash signed a Brewery Climate Declaration, stating:
"Warmer temperatures and extreme weather events are harming the production of hops...Rising demand and lower yields have driven the price of hops up by more than 250% over the past decade."
Surprisingly, the hop beta acids responsible for flavoring and preserving beer have also been found to kill varroa mites. When cardboard strips saturated with hop beta acids were inserted into packages of bees, more than 90% of the mites died, with no effect on bee mortality.
BEECOSYSTEM
Beecosystem connects brewing and beekeeping using a genetically modified brewer’s yeast that synthesizes hop beta acids. These beta acids will supplement or replace hops in beer brewing and help protect bees from the parasitic mites.
NEXT STEPS
The Guodong Wang lab at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has successfully modified a strain of yeast to create hop beta acids as a byproduct. We are currently in the process of pulling the hop-related DNA from their strain of yeast and inserting it into our strain of brewing yeast.
Once our yeast is modified, we'll brew some beer and see what happens!
TOOLS: Molecular Biology, Adobe Illustrator
ROLE: Molecular science, Design, Ideation
COLLABORATORS: Jenny Lim, Chester Dols, Dr. Leslie Mitchell
We owe a great debt of thanks to Stefani Bardin, Kadallah Burrowes, Daniel Grushkin, & Elizabeth Hénaff