I don't think there is much more than can be said on this topic.

Jerry has a remarkable new job.  That is it.  He has done good work for the bee 
industry.  We are happy for him.

Obviously Monsanto sees an opportunity here and considering that the honey bee 
was one of the first organisms sequenced, maybe they see some almost free, low hanging 
fruit to add to their portfolio of proprietary life forms.

Since the topic of Monsanto and other high-tech ag companies came up, we
can revisit some pertinent questions without speculating about any one person, and as 
long as we stick to the prospects for honey bees..

* Is the whole RNAi approach one which the majority of those who work 
with bees would endorse?  Are there unforeseen dangers?

* Is Monsanto likely to segregate and patent essential bee characteristics or genes?

* Will Monsanto's or other large ag firms' involvement in our area of agriculture result in 
serious externalities, borne by beekeepers who are not their customers, as it has in 
other aspects of agriculture? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality

These are questions we can deal with here, but let's not get into gossip and 
unfounded speculation.

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