Greetings
Last year, when large scale trials of Remebee were beginning, I tried to raise the alarm that RNA interference is a new and unproven technology and maybe should not be entering into wide distribution. Several people I contacted tried to assure me that no harm would come of feeding bees synthetic RNA. New work seems to indicate that I was not wrong in being concerned about *off-target effects*.

> We found unspecific gene downregulation depending on both the dsRNA used and the different tissues. Hence, RNAi experiments in the honeybee require rigid controls and carefully selected dsRNA sequences to avoid misinterpretation of RNAi-derived phenotypes.

> We strongly recommend concentrating effort on the design of RNAi effective molecules, combining several dsRNAs for one target gene and using more stringent controls when setting up RNAi protocols in honeybees. 

RNA interference in honeybees: off-target effects caused by dsRNA
Antje Jarosch and Robin F. A. Moritz
Apidologie published online 14 Sept 2011

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