> And feeding the bees a genetically modified substance? How would that play in Europe?

Unfortunately, the public is very uninformed when it comes to genetics and genetic modification. I am doing research involving genetically modified mice. To produce one of these mice is extremely difficult. One of our PhD candidates spent several years trying to "create" a mouse, failed repeatedly. We finally gave the task to another lab that does it but that was very expensive. The resulting mice are physically no different than other lab mice, by the way, and can only be distinguished by DNA tests. 

To do the tests, we use short pieces of coding called oligonucleotides. These are short molecules made up of the DNA code GATC (as in GATTACA, for you sci fi fans). This material is completely inert, is shipped at ambient temperature in ordinary envelopes. Synthetic RNA is made the same way. The molecules are similar to DNA, but code the proteins GAC and U, and are single stranded, as are the custom oligos we use. 

Living cells use RNA as a messenger. It floats about the cell telling the machinery what proteins to do. Raw DNA and RNA are like strings of letters of an alphabet. If you play scrabble, you can have a handful of letters, but they don't mean a thing until they are formed into words. And certain combinations will earn far more points than others. Putting the right letters together makes the difference between winning and losing the game. 

Letters can make nonsense words, regular words, buzz words, words of extreme potency. Take the word "free". Depending on context it can mean many different things. Like the story of how a guy puts a sofa on the curb with the sign "free" on it. Nobody will take it. So he puts a new sign that says "For Sale, $100" and it's gone the next day (somebody swiped it). Or like the word "fire". If somebody is pointing a gun at you, "fire" is not what you want to say. The point is, letters & words do nothing on their own, they need context.

But more than that, if assembled into sentences, they gain significance, because now they become language, and beyond that, they can be structured into ideas, and great works of literature, science, philosophy and political revolutions. But again, even the greatest work means absolutely nothing to someone who *cannot read*.  Your complete genome is contained in the cells in everything from hair to sperm.  In terms of what it can do, there is a vast difference between a pinch of hair and a drop of sperm.

Back to RNA as a treatment: the RNA is a synthetic molecule with no properties to speak of. You can touch it, put it in your coffee and drink it. It only works when it gets into the cell and is accepted. The cell rejects most foreign materials such as viruses, exogenic DNA, etc but accepts nutrients, hormones, and various substances some of which are inert and some which it has no way to reject. 

Synthetic RNA, if correctly coded, will be accepted and will perform a particular function. Used as a pest control, it will slip into the pest organism and do some sort of dirty work. RNA must be designed to target some important function in the pest, and then it must do the task reliably. Obviously, if it is ignored by the cell, it does nothing. And there are possible codings that could have unexpected effects. But remember: it is far easier to just make something stop working than it is to make a significant change.

If you have ever worked on a car, you will know what I mean. To troubleshoot an engine, or to create a high performance car, requires a seasoned mechanic. To cripple the same car, all you have to do is unplug the right wire, anyone can do it with a pair of pliers. So RNA is like a pair of pliers, not a very sophisticated tool, really. But if placed in the right place, a little pressure can stop an entire organism dead in its tracks. That's what we want to do with varroa, nosema, viruses, etc. Just cripple them with a cheap tool.

Happy New Year!

(offered freely into the public domain, can be reproduced in any way shape or form)

Peter Loring Borst
peterloringborst.com

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