[Source: Physorg.com] – Page is a professor and founding director of the School of Life Sciences. Amdam is an associate professor in both the School of Life Sciences and Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
As detailed in Science, the collaboration between Page and Amdam has led to the synthesis of the “reproductive ground plan hypothesis,” and catalyzed understanding of how genes and hormones might control social roles and longevity. Their focus on the role of the ovary in honey bee colonies has contributed insight as to how genetically related colony members partition the labor of the colony between raising young bees, nest construction, food processing, and foraging for pollen or nectar.
In her article, journalist Elizabeth Pennisi notes that Page and Amdam’s hypothesis has provided a framework and tools to study division of labor, which now “converges on two genes that may explain both ovary size and behavior.”
For more information: ASU scientists’ research on honey bees featured in ‘Science’