The team behind honey DNA test focuses on honeybee viruses and food of the future

The team that created the honey total DNA test, which made waves in Estonia and around the globe last year, is now developing a new honey analysis method to detect the bees-related RNA viruses that are causing headaches and economic losses for beekeepers worldwide. A broader food DNA project is also underway, which, among other focuses, will provide an opportunity to ensure that novel food products like insect flour contain what they claim to be and are safe to consume.

Last year, Estonians completed a unique honey Metagenomic DNA Analysis (MDA), which led to the discovery of extensive honey fraud in many European countries and major retail chains.

Doctor Kairi Raime, a bioinformatician and the project manager of honey DNA analysis in Celvia CC, says that the goal for 2025 is to obtain accreditation for the DNA methodology. However, this will not prevent the service from being offered to our customers, as the lack of ISO certification is not a limitation and does not impact the reliability of the test. The laboratory is currently experiencing a very busy period.

“We’re already operating following the requirements for accreditation,” Raime explained, adding that the laboratory’s operational history, documentation and procedural rules must be demonstrated to obtain accreditation. “It simply boosts our credibility,” she said. “Not everyone can visit the lab to see how we operate, and this is a globally recognised standard.”

Using their innovative methodology, the team gained wider picture about the honey and its production environment compared to the previous targeted DNA tests. Discussions with beekeepers revealed another critical issue that can be solved with honey analysis alongside honey fraud: mortality of honey bees and honey bee related viruses. “The honey bee-related viruses can be a cause of honey bees´ mortality, but the cause of their death often remains undetected. ,” Raime noted.

Many rather than a few

While honey DNA analysis can detect honey bee related pathogens, parasites and DNA viruses, but diseases affecting bees are often caused by RNA viruses. “Therefore we decided to study honey RNA alongside DNA to try and detect disease-causeing bee viruses in the honey produced by the bees,” Raime said.

While a handful of bee viruses can currently be detected in Estonia using tests, around 30 viruses causing bee diseases have been described globally. The new methodology makes it possible to detect all of the viruses with known DNA or RNA sequences. What is also innovative is that the viruses can be screened from the honey, rather than analysing the bees themselves, as was done in the past.

The project, which started on 1 April 2024, received funding from the same programme that supported the development of the honey DNA test: measure 16.2 of the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB), which is designed to create innovative solutions through collaboration between researchers and the agricultural sector. As a EIP-AGRI Operational Group this project was supported by the Estonian Rural Development Plan (RDP) 2014-2020. The year-long project, which will end in March this year, aims to develop a methodology for detecting bee viruses using total RNA from honey.

“We were able to detect DNA viruses from DNA testing, and now we know that we can extract RNA from honey as well,” Raime said. “We’re currently working to optimise the lab process. Soon we’ll be able to see the data, and we’re hoping we’ll detect viruses and maybe other interesting things in the honey RNA, too. The current aim is to detect RNA viruses, but the data may lead us to other possible discoveries as well.If we discover anything else, we’ll certainly descibe it too.”

In the future, this information will allow the issues unfolding in beehives to be detected as early as possible. “A lot of diseases associated with honey bees aren’t visible in the early stages,” Raime explained. “The situation in the hives is already critical by the time the symptoms become visible, which is why early detection is crucial.”

Food composition and safety

“The field of food DNA testing is very broad, and honey’s just one example of it,” Raime added, noting that DNA testing has enormous potential in ensuring food quality, safety, and security. For example, Celvia, in collaboration with the University of Tartu and BioCC, is currently working also on another project to develop DNA analysis and methodology for different food products. The project is being funded by the Estonian Research Council’s TEM-TA35 (Thematic Research and Development Programmes) funding measure, and is led by Maido Remm, a professor of bioinformatics at the University of Tartu.

Entitled ‘Surveillance of food safety, origin and composition using DNA sequencing’, the project aims to develop a more accurate DNA-based methodology for analysing the composition of ready-to-eat foods to prevent fraud as well as monitor the food production process and raw materials.

It would reassure consumers that the food they buy in stores contains precisely what is listed on the packaging. At the same time, it will support honest food producers to sequre their products´quality and betterare position on a market when competing with counterfeited products. For example, it will help dairy farmers, who can have their production lines and raw materials tested for microbes that affect food quality. “This is all to avoid a situation where the manufacturer does everything right, but for some reason, the product doesn’t maintain its quality as it should,” Raime said.

Raime also highlights the development of cutting-edge DNA tests related to the quality of novel foods. “Such foods are increasingly making their way into our diets,” she noted. “Things like insect flours. Similar to honey, there are questions about what the flour is made of, whether it’s safe and what exactly insect flour exported from outside of Europe contains – whether it’s made from the right insects or what it’s actually composed of.”

The five-year project began in April last year and will end in December 2028.

This article was originally published on the Maa Elu section of the Postimees online portal. Author and editor: Kadri Suurmägi.

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