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 ...
Not only squee but w00t!
Good morning. I’m going to go take a shower. I have more stiffness and achy places than I know what to do with this morning, and no TV to attract my focus.
Maybe by the time I get out of the shower it will be back on. Beaker and Gonzo don’t quite know how to act.
Awww...Thank you!
I thought this might be of interest to all y’all. I need to get out my star chart and my binoculars because there’s not much sky glow here, and I should be able to spot it easily. Although it can be spotted with the naked eye, how much more fun would it be to see it bigger? ;o]
https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/home.cfm
Maybe you need a radio to provide backup for Gonzo and Beaker.
I had a shower last night.
Good news.
Idiots - can’t live WITH ‘em. Can’t shoot ‘em.
Good morning.
In my final week at Ed.
The stereo was in the kitchen and I used it the first week I was here, but when I began to work in the kitchen, I moved it into the bedroom because it took up space I needed, but didn’t hook up the speakers when I moved it.
The TV came back on about 20 minutes after my shower. Its only for background noise, so I pick documentaries so I hear voices but don’t have to glue myself to it to wait for the plot line to develop.
I’ll be taking the BB SUV in to Casey Auto, which is the repair place recommended by two people, but I have no idea how much the repair will cost. Since there is no public transportation of any kind, I will walk back home, since its just a mile. I’ll get to see a part of town I’ve never seen. Slowly.
Herzlichen Glückwunsch! Es ist der Mittwoch-Version von Montag!
That all depends. If 'it' is an oncoming train, not much more fun at all.
Thank you for doing that in German. If I’d been hit with that too early it might have ruined my day.
Fortunately, this is a good Monday the third since it’s the first day of my last week here.
Congratulations!
Thanks. You know what they say. “Today is the first day of the rest of what’s shaping up to be a miserable life.”
Or something.
;)
I just like to do stuff like that and then translate that back to English. Some things are very funny!
Like that Monty Python Hungarian Phrasebook sketch?
I don’t recall seeing that, but that’s probably exactly like it!
We do get to see the ISS fairly regularly.
A very bright light in the sky.
I’m always thankful that it is an international build....If it was entirely designed here we would still be arguing about where to put the Kettle.
Try the auto translation on YouTube on a Russian video....it can be hilarious.
Not to mention Lucas Electric...
Um, no, let’s not mention Lucus Electric.
We do at the very least need the Kettle to work even if all else fails.
Indeed. You could at least make up some stone soup.
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