Posted on 10/06/2018 2:02:35 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Pentagon research project called "Insect Allies." Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the project involves using gene-editing techniques like CRISPR to infect insects with modified viruses that could help make America's crops more resilient. If a cornfield were hit by an unexpected drought or suddenly exposed to a pathogen, for example, Insect Allies might deploy an army of aphids carrying a genetically modified virus to slow the corn plant's growth rate.
According to the DARPA website, these "targeted therapies" could take effect in a single growing season, potentially protecting the American crop system from food security threats like disease, flooding, frost and even "threats introduced by state or non-state actors.
… Insect Allies, is less concerned. "Anytime you're developing a new and revolutionary technology, there is that potential for [both offensive and defensive] capability," Bextine told The Washington Post. "But that is not what we are doing. We are delivering positive traits to plants… We want to make sure we ensure food security, because food security is national security in our eyes."
Insect Allies is still in the early stages of development, and at least four U.S. colleges (Boyce Thompson Institute, Penn State University, The Ohio State University and the University of Texas at Austin)have received funding to carry out research. Bextine told The Washington Post that the project recently achieved its first milestone — testing whether an aphid could infect a stalk of corn with a designer virus that caused fluorescence. According to the Washington Post, "the corn glowed."
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Thank you for lovely warm fuzzies!
Oy vey!
Lol!
Did high-pitched voices always bother you? They seem to bother me more now than before medical intervention. The weird thing is that I also seem to be going deaf.
Thank you, Bob.
Not really. I'd like to interact with the child and be supportive to her communication efforts, but it's challenging.
Just how many times can you ask someone to repeat themselves before they think you're being mean? It rapidly becomes a clear case of "better to remain silent and seem a fool than to speak and remove all doubt".
My father couldn’t hear higher pitches, before he got to where he couldn’t hear at all.
Well, if I’m about to go deaf, I don’t want to hear it.
You could just pretend to hear. It worked for my dad!
There are coping strategies for all afflictions.
I particularly enjoy pretending to be intelligent.
You’ve obviously been practicing for a long time, because it’s persuasive.
“I watching yoo hooman. No sudden move or I ‘tack yoo in da book fing.”
I slept in. Now I’m running late on everything. I hate when I do that. But yesterday seemed like a never-ending mental exercise in avoiding stupidity. Everywhere I turned, there were stupid people demanding that I listen to their stupidity.
It’s a good thing I’m leaving because Sylvia is getting on my last nerve. She interrupts me and of course, I can’t recall what I was saying, thanks to CFIDS/ME, but she thinks she has that much power. She doesn’t. The disease rules.
Now I’m going to go take a shower and wash my head out.
Good morning. I got started a little late, myself.
There! Now I can function! I think.
While I was in the shower, I realized I will need one more tub for the kitchen and one for some odd-shaped stuff in here. I think the few boxes I have will be adequate, but I think I should get a crate for the stuff in my file sorter.
(At least my brain is engaged in the Moving Gear, so I should be OK. It will dislodge the panic.)
Step by step ...
I feel better after the shower, too. I was cold. Now I have many layers of warm clothes on.
Speaking of warm, I think I’ll have to invest in another space heater in Hurricane. This morning’s low there will be 31°. But I’ll worry about that when the time comes.
I keep a variety of vests on hand for the days when I can’t warm up. Its surprising how much of a difference they make.
Today, while I’m sitting here writing letters, I think I’ll revamp my monthly budget. Unfortunately, I have to pay the full car insurance, but with luck, they will give me a refund. I’ve decided to go with AAA, as they have the cheapest rates for me. *happy dance*
Cox isn’t due until the 16th, so I’ll be long gone by then. There is enough credit on my power so that I won’t have to worry about that bill, but I need to talk to the manager here about the rent. I don’t know how she wants to do that.
I haven’t seen an old pair of shears like that since the last time I was in my dad’s shop! What an interesting photo! I even see a fishing creel! Wow! Thanks!
Yes...and when was the last time you saw small boys playing soldiers wearing paper hats?
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