UC experts weigh in on Sarah Palin's comments

Sarah Palin's dismissal of fruit fly research (criticized in a Salon.com article that was covered in this blog) is reverberating on the Internet. In the news blog "The Scientist," writer Bob Grant included reaction from two UC entomologists and other scientists.

Here's the YouTube video in which the vice presidential candidate derides "fruit fly research in Paris, France":

UC Davis entomologist Frank Zalom was quoted in The Scientist blog:

"[Palin's comment] does kind of bother me. Clearly there's no understanding about the problem of the pest or the methods being studied to control them."

From UC Berkeley entomologist Kent Daane:

"I doubt [Palin] has any idea what the funds were being used for. Almost any politician would not understand the complexity of any project that they just gloss over in a one-line joke like that."

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