"Our findings indicate a fundamental genetic program that determines the neuronal circuitry and behavior of worker bees"
This dogma - that bees are little machines "programmed" by genetic code - won't lead very far. A single gene may turn off our auditory system because it controls production of a protein that's necessary for hearing, and loss of hearing would make us less social, but it's a wrong conclusion that the "auditory gene" is what "programs" our social behavior.
IMO, Michael Levin's research is closer to truth. If we extrapolate his ideas to a whole bee colony, we could find that behavior of a bee hive can be changed without messing with genes, although some of the genes make bees receptive to "social cues" that makes such large scale behavior possible.
This dogma - that bees are little machines "programmed" by genetic code - won't lead very far. A single gene may turn off our auditory system because it controls production of a protein that's necessary for hearing, and loss of hearing would make us less social, but it's a wrong conclusion that the "auditory gene" is what "programs" our social behavior.
IMO, Michael Levin's research is closer to truth. If we extrapolate his ideas to a whole bee colony, we could find that behavior of a bee hive can be changed without messing with genes, although some of the genes make bees receptive to "social cues" that makes such large scale behavior possible.