# double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) the new hype against V. destructor?



## johno (Dec 4, 2011)

Hi Eduardo, I seem to remember the university of Aberdeen coming up with something like this about 6 years ago. they added the stuff to syrup and fed it to the bees and the mites picked it up from the bees. this dna thing that they made attacked the mites immune system and killed the mites. Hell if I have to inject this stuff into the mites to kill them I may as well kill them with the needle
Johno


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## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

they made a typo in the patent does that make the patent invalid?



> Varroa gene 65ctaatacgac tcactatagg gcgaaatcaa ttcgtctgca gatctcaccg attttctgat 60atcgctggga gtccaggata ttcgactact atgcggagct gaattcagca


ya right like I know what the heck this is


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## Eduardo Gomes (Nov 10, 2014)

Yeah Mike I'm in the same boat as you. This treatment will not be easy to do at home.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

But that's what they're working on. And I hear from a friend who is working on the program as an inspector in the field ...he's seeing good things.


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

don't forget to read the fine print...."The authors assigned their rights to Yissum research development company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem LTD, which together with Beeologics LLC"...

While I think its definitely a step in the right direction, I have little doubt that Monsanto (who purchased Beelogics) will come forward with any kind of beneficial cost approach to assist the beekeeping industry once their product is made available for purchase. Lets not forget how companies such as this operate.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Last I heard, cost of manufacturing the oligos was still high, but it's been a few years since I had any real vested interest in it.


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## johno (Dec 4, 2011)

Riskybizz, if you know of any companies that will spend a lot of money on [email protected] then bring something to market in this litigious country and market it below cost you must be thinking of some Govt Agency.
Johno


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

selling below cost of course not...that hardly makes sense.../ raping a customer because they can is another scenario however, with little regard for the health of the beekeeping industry as a whole. I'm sure your familiar with the term "altruistic".


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## Cloverdale (Mar 26, 2012)

Riskybizz said:


> While I think its definitely a step in the right direction, I have little doubt that Monsanto (who purchased Beelogics) will come forward with any kind of beneficial cost approach to assist the beekeeping industry once their product is made available for purchase. Lets not forget how companies such as this operate.


How do companies like Monsanto operate when it comes to this?


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

Clover at the time of the purchase, there were numerous articles written and discussions regarding the ramifications of companies such as Monsanto buying up industries within the beekeeping community (for whatever reason). Obviously everyone has a right to their own opinions whether or not this is a good thing or a bad thing; certainly time will tell. Based upon Monsanto's business philosophy I for one have serious doubts that anything positive will be the end result by such a large diversified chemical company. In the past they haven't exactly had anyone's best interests in mind other than their own.


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## Cloverdale (Mar 26, 2012)

Hasn't that changed somewhat since Jerry Hayes left his home and job in Florida to work for Monsanto to be an advocate for honey bees and research that Monsanto is doing for our bee's?


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

"Hasn't that changed somewhat since Jerry Hayes left his home and job in Florida to work for Monsanto to be an advocate for honey bees and research"..

gee I don't know has it?


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Risky, Monsanto isn't really a chemical company, they manufacture one herbicide, Round up. The bulk of the company is seeds and traits. Beeologics was a technology acquisition as they had developed RNAi technology the company saw as promising and would help relieve some issues with resistance to traits. For example, find the pathway plants are using to overcome Round Up... create some RNAi oligos to knock it out, tank mix them with the Round Up and now the weeds die. As far as the bees go, I never heard of what Beeologics was actually doing once acquired or what the direction of the company/technology was going, only that production of oligos continued to be very high in cost but the Beeologics team was confident they could get it reduced to a level where it would be an affordable product.


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## johno (Dec 4, 2011)

Riskybizz, show me an altruistic company and it will or soon will be a bankrupt company. Now as to a company raping their customers, that one I have never heard of, gouging perhaps when there is no competition like the crony capitalist ones perhaps. I have never seen a company that rips off or mistreats their customers survive unless due to legislation. So in the end one needs to think with ones brain and not through the heart.
Johno


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## Eduardo Gomes (Nov 10, 2014)

"Hayes once believed—perhaps this was the stupid gene again—that he could build a similar bridge. “I was naive,” he says. He knows he wasn’t wrong about the mites. It was humans that he didn’t understand."

A fascinating story:https://www.wired.com/2016/08/jerry-hayes-how-to-save-the-bees-monsanto/


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## Cloverdale (Mar 26, 2012)

Eduardo Gomes said:


> "Hayes once believed—perhaps this was the stupid gene again—that he could build a similar bridge. “I was naive,” he says. He knows he wasn’t wrong about the mites. It was humans that he didn’t understand."
> 
> A fascinating story:https://www.wired.com/2016/08/jerry-hayes-how-to-save-the-bees-monsanto/


Thanks for posting that article; I have such respect for Jerry Hayes and none for Riskybizz.


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## popejohnpaul2 (Apr 2, 2015)

Maybe you guys understand this better than I do. The article mentions that the mRNA targeted are only found in varroa mites. Is that something easy to prove? I mean, can they be sure it doesn't exist in other organisms that feed on bees like a skunk? And does this RNAi get transferred into honey, thus get consumed by other organisms who eat honey?


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Thanks for posting Eduardo. I hope it softens the attitude that some beekeepers have against Jerry. I was at an EAS meeting once where Jerry spoke to a group one evening. I was shocked and outraged at how some in the audience attacked the man. I've been following what is going on with the RNAi work. As I said, I know someone doing the field work. That person is one of my oldest friends and when he says he's seeing good things happening, I believe it. I hope when the work is finished, those who attack Jerry and the work that is being done, eat their words. Every unsavory, nasty, bitter word.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Pope, RNA is not very stable, degrades quickly. It is easy to prove, the sequences are compared using known genome libraries so it is known what genes it may affect as long as that genome or gene has been sequenced and in the library. It's not something you just do willy nilly, part of the regulation process is being able to provide all that information.


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