Abstract:

With the deepening advancement of microbiome research and the rapid development of precision medicine, the search for ideal research models has become a key factor in promoting the development of related fields. Although traditional mammalian models, such as mice, are widely used, their complex gut microbiome, significant individual differences, high breeding costs, and long experimental cycles constrain, to some extent, the conduct of high-throughput studies requiring clearly defined mechanisms. Against this background, germ-free bees, as an emerging biomedical research model, are increasingly receiving attention. As social insects, bees possess not only a short life cycle and rapid reproduction, but also a relatively simple and stable gut microbiota structure, and can be reared and maintained on a large scale under germ-free conditions. These unique biological advantages make germ-free bees a high-quality model for investigating host-microbe interactions, immune regulation, metabolic mechanisms, and neurobehavioral connections, demonstrating significant potential in areas including disease mechanism analysis, drug development, and microbiome function research. This article systematically elaborates on the construction methods, core biological characteristics, and specific applications of the germ-free bee model in biomedical research, objectively analyzes the current technical bottlenecks and ethical challenges faced by the model, and provides an outlook on its future development directions in interdisciplinary studies. This paper, for the first time, systematically sorts out the research progress from four dimensions—"model construction", "applications and advantages", "current challenges", and "future prospects", and comprehensively integrates the findings. It not only offers important technical and theoretical references for researchers in related fields, but also underscores the model's unique value in promoting basic biology towards translational medical applications, providing positive guiding significance for its standardized development and in-depth exploration.

Key words: Germ-free bee, Laboratory animal, Animal model, Biomedicine