Daniel Weaver >beeweaver.com wrote:
>>I write to enthusiastically and unequivocally endorse the Honey Bee
>>Genome Project (HBGP).  The beekeeping industry in the United States,
>>and the critical pollination services provided to agriculture and
>>the entire ecosystem, will reap substantial benefits from a HBGP.
>>
>>As a honey bee breeder, I am particularly excited about what the
>>sequence information could do to accelerate breeding superior honey
>>bees.  The information gleaned from the HBGP will dramatically
>>improve our ability to develop new strains of honey bees that resist
>>parasites and disease, tolerate insecticide exposure and exhibit
>>reduced defensive behavior.

        What are the facts & reasoning behind this excitation?
        The wish list stated at the end is just that.  After several years
of similar excitement about the human 'genome project' (i.e DNA
sequencing), which was similarly promised to produce numerous benefits, we
have today little reason to believe that any benefits are emerging.
        Supposing complete 'sequence information' on bee DNA had been
produced; how could that sequence of letters (which you can safely assume
to be in just the 4-letter alphabet beloved of the sequencing industry) be
used for any purpose such as stated by Daniel?  His language
('dramatically' etc) is that of PR, not of science.

R