When I joined John Batchelor on CBS Eye on the World, the focus was on honeybees—a $15 billion force in U.S. agriculture, pollinating essential crops. But their biggest threat isn’t the phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder—it’s a tiny, spider-like parasite called Varroa destructor. I described a promising new solution: RNA interference (RNAi), a double-stranded RNA acting as a gene-silencing technology already successfully reducing Varroa infestations in field trials.
An important contributor to the problem is that we treat bees like livestock, trucking them around the country to chase seasonal pollination gigs. This stresses the bees, making them more vulnerable to disease and disorientation—sometimes making them unable to find their way back to the hive.
Ironically, many critics of such molecular biology-based solutions still enjoy honey, oblivious that cutting-edge science may soon be the only reason it still exists.
You can find our entire conversation here.
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RNAi Technology Shows Promise in Combating Deadly Honeybee Pest
Henry I. Miller, MS, MD
Henry I. Miller, MS, MD, is the Glenn Swogger Distinguished Fellow at the American Council on Science and Health. His research focuses on public policy toward science, technology, and medicine, encompassing a number of areas, including pharmaceutical development, genetic engineering, models for regulatory reform, precision medicine, and the emergence of new viral diseases. Dr. Miller served for fifteen years at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a number of posts, including as the founding director of the Office of Biotechnology.
