The aims of this trip were to initiate research on HaSV RNA designed to improve our ability to express insect viral genes in transgenic cotton, and to attend two important conferences relevant to the long-term biological control of major cotton pests like Helicoverpa armigera: the International Workshop on the Molecular Biology and Genetics of Lepidoptera (Crete) and the International Colloquium on Invertebrate Pathology and Microbial Control (Montpellier