> Something to be deployed so widely might need more than cursory attention, in my view.

You are employing the straw man argument. RNA interference is not being rushed to market, it is getting tons of scrutiny from all quarters. The obstacles being thrown up are based mainly on lack of understanding and suspicion. I recommend Dr. Craig Mello's detailed responses to the concerns that have been raised by various constituents. 

He clearly addresses all of the concerns, and acknowledges that any new products must be adequately tested for side effects. RNA however is completely non-toxic, we eat and breathe it all the time. For RNA interference to work, the sequence has to be carefully designed and it has to get to the right place, otherwise it does nothing at all.

He writes

> In 2006 I shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Dr. Andrew Fire for the discovery that dsRNA can trigger RNA interference. Early in our investigation of the mechanisms of RNAi, I became interested in the potential value of RNAi as a means for controlling agricultural pests (nematodes in particular). I joined the advisory team for the nematode-control start-up company Divergence in 1999, and later joined the advisory team for the bee-health company Beeologics.

PLB

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