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 ...
So some of that is very good, and some less so. Not bad for a Monday.
Speaking of offspring, have you posted photos of Elen’s graduation anywhere?
Well, now he wants the paperwork from my end, which includes a full year’s medical expenses, six months of bank accounts and a one page statement of my income. The Rx is three pages, the bank is 30. He wanted them faxed. I don’t think the Senior Rep will agree to the latter, so I asked if he could take the summary faxed and allow me to mail the rest. I may just mail it all, anyway.
Now, I’m feeling stressed, but its that time of day, and I probably should have called it quits two hours ago. The brain is beginning to balk at having to work past Quitting Time.
I posted on FB for my relatives in Washington County to be available on Friday the 7th, so I’ll have to check in a bit. I doubt many of them will respond today. I also need to post for friends on FB here to help load.
One of the Ward members is selling her amazing enchiladas, frijoles refrito and Mexican rice, and I’m thinking it would be perfect for my first meal in Hurricane. I could freeze it and take it with me. She makes such GOOD food! I think the entire meal is $30 and I may have to share the meal, but the meal is large, so sharing is OK. I’m hoping for payday to come while she’s still cooking! She wants it all picked up by Thursday evening.
I’ll have to check with DP. Meanwhile, if you freepmail me your email address, I can send you some.
Yes!
Fits right in with the line “Once it’s in the soup most folks can’t tell..”
What a pretty floof! He looks very content in that window!
Good morning. I think the day will start reasonably well. I need to get these documents faxed and I don’t have Denise’s phone number because I never used her services. I’ve always done my own paperwork, but some people are overwhelmed by it.
(Is this really happening? Seems I’ve waited forever.)
Yes, it’s really happening. Yes, it’s been like forever! “Keep pounding,” as they say in these parts, and you’ll get there.
Weight Watchers this morning, and James and Vlad’s Confirmation in the afternoon. I need to make sure James’s uniform is tidy; he didn’t want to wear civilian dress clothes.
The Adult Houseguest has gone back to Marine life, not to be confused with marine life, for a few weeks. I gave her a SASE to send her address to us, but who knows. Drama Queen has a job interview at Starbucks this afternoon.
I may have a problem leaving when I want to, as it seems the person who agreed to do the driving three years ago will be “tied up” on the 7th. I could put it back to the 13th, but I really don’t want to.
Good luck to the Adult Houseguest, and hopefully, she’ll get the Marine training she wants.
Drama Queen at Starbucks? A match made in heaven!
I will devote intense prayer to the issue of the driver.
I agree, DQ would do excellently at Starbucks, if she learn to follow sanitation practices.
I wouldn’t worry too much about sanitation. It seems to me that Starbucks doesn’t, either, since a lot of their beverages seem to contain e coli.
I just walked down to put a thank you note on Cindy2’s door and stopped to pick up yesterday’s mail. There was a pretty post card from someone in SC!
Chuck said he was going to compose a letter of offer (apparently, they do things differently in Utah than they do here) but he’s going to email it, so maybe it will show up today. If I could figure out how to scan and send, I’d do away with trying to fax the documents, and just email them. Some days I can figure things out, even if its just that once. Other days, it all falls into the “Nevermind” category.
I was going to send a couple of thank you cards out in today’s mail, but they will have to wait. New Nephew may be preoccupied with his new genealogy toy to even think about it, but...
Thank you for cutie kitteh. This one’s inscrutable.
Thank you for cutie kitteh. This one’s inscrutable.
Good morning. It’s Monday II.
It’s hard to believe I’ve been here at the Dept of Ed for 6 months already. It seems like it’s only been 20 years.
Efax is as good as scan-and-send. It’s just scan-and-upload-and-they-fax.
Ah, yes. I believe there’s a page limit for the free scan and fax, though. I used it once before, per your suggestion. It was a couple of years and a laptop ago, though. I’ll check it out, though, as it may be the answer.
Thanks again!
Oops! The one you told me about was FaxZero. I’m going to check it because eFax wants much more than I can afford.
Yes. How time flies when you're having fun..
That’s so true.
Or, as the frog is reported to have said, “Time’s fun when you’re having flies.”
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