Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Pentagon Wants to Make an Army of Virus-Spreading Insects. Scientists Are Concerned.
.livescience.com ^ | October 5, 2018 12:57pm ET | Brandon Specktor

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 ...


TOPICS: Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: aphids; boycethompson; cornelluniversity; crispr; darpa; hurricaneutah; insectallies; ithaca; molassesmiasma; monkeyfacerules; newyork; nithaca; ohio; ohiostate; pennstate; pennsylvania; texas; undead; undeadthread; undeadthreadhere; uoftexasataustin; workingdogs
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 2,721-2,7402,741-2,7602,761-2,780 ... 6,541-6,560 next last
To: Tax-chick

I only had one child like that, but these two avian boarders seem to find perverse pleasure in the simple things — knocking things to the floor and going into a frenzy when my arm goes into the cage to reach the food dish.

Then they sit on their perch and laugh.


2,741 posted on 01/10/2019 6:42:12 AM PST by Monkey Face (I'm not much for seizing the day. Instead, I just kinda poke it with a stick.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2739 | View Replies]

To: Tax-chick; Monkey Face
I’m glad you’re feeling more upbeat today.

Me, too, although without a good downbeat it's hard to keep the band together.

2,742 posted on 01/10/2019 7:06:52 AM PST by ArGee (I trust people with freedom more than I trust government with power.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2733 | View Replies]

To: ArGee

So true.


2,743 posted on 01/10/2019 7:23:31 AM PST by Tax-chick (What can I do to fight entropy today?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2742 | View Replies]

To: ArGee; Tax-chick

We’ve done well keeping this UT band together, though we’re not as strong as we used to be. I suspect we’ll just keep hanging in there!


2,744 posted on 01/10/2019 7:43:24 AM PST by Monkey Face (I'm not much for seizing the day. Instead, I just kinda poke it with a stick.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2742 | View Replies]

To: Monkey Face; ArGee

Vlad took his exam to qualify for the state geography bee today. He missed a question about St. Bernard dogs. We’ll find out March 4 whether he had one of the top 100 scores in the state.


2,745 posted on 01/10/2019 7:46:09 AM PST by Tax-chick (What can I do to fight entropy today?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2744 | View Replies]

To: Tax-chick

I’m hoping Vlad will be in the top 100, as its obvious he likes the subject. :o] I’ll just keep your family in my prayers.


2,746 posted on 01/10/2019 8:35:30 AM PST by Monkey Face (I'm not much for seizing the day. Instead, I just kinda poke it with a stick.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2745 | View Replies]

To: Monkey Face

I expect he will be. He knows LOTS of facts.


2,747 posted on 01/10/2019 8:36:28 AM PST by Tax-chick (What can I do to fight entropy today?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2746 | View Replies]

To: ArGee

“Ja’lra rash’nakh h’rai?” -cat

Kilrah avenge me..


2,748 posted on 01/10/2019 8:55:58 AM PST by Darksheare (Those who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2740 | View Replies]

To: ArGee; Tax-chick; Monkey Face; no-to-illegals; NoCmpromiz; NicknamedBob; Darksheare; moose07; ...

Buenas tardes.


2,749 posted on 01/10/2019 10:13:49 AM PST by Silentgypsy ( “If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.”__Scorpion)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2740 | View Replies]

To: Silentgypsy

Gutten Tag. :)


2,750 posted on 01/10/2019 10:27:55 AM PST by moose07 (DMCS (Dit Me Cong San ) Forward to the glorious world of next Tuesday !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2749 | View Replies]

To: Silentgypsy

¡Y a usted también!


2,751 posted on 01/10/2019 10:28:23 AM PST by Monkey Face (I'm not much for seizing the day. Instead, I just kinda poke it with a stick.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2749 | View Replies]

To: Tax-chick

The St Bernard Dog:
A very large transport device for a tongue.
Comes in 4 wheel drive, dif-locks as standard.
A leg on each corner and a starting handle at the rear.
The top of the range model also features a drinks cabinet.


2,752 posted on 01/10/2019 10:36:17 AM PST by moose07 (DMCS (Dit Me Cong San ) Forward to the glorious world of next Tuesday !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2745 | View Replies]

To: moose07

LOL! One of our friends in Germany had a St Bernard. That animal was excellent at drooling!


2,753 posted on 01/10/2019 10:42:17 AM PST by Monkey Face (I'm not much for seizing the day. Instead, I just kinda poke it with a stick.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2752 | View Replies]

To: moose07

That’s the one. Not at all the thing for apartment-dwellers.


2,754 posted on 01/10/2019 11:05:46 AM PST by Tax-chick (What can I do to fight entropy today?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2752 | View Replies]

To: NicknamedBob

Bob the previously discussed hyper loop is closer than I thought. You are ahead of your time Bob. Experimental speed would be approximately 225 mpg. Know if implemented is not top end mph. What do you think as top end mph would be?


2,755 posted on 01/10/2019 3:24:04 PM PST by no-to-illegals (Liberals, Rinos, moslems, illegals, lamestream media. All want America to fail and die)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2725 | View Replies]

To: no-to-illegals

Mpg should be mph


2,756 posted on 01/10/2019 3:26:07 PM PST by no-to-illegals (Liberals, Rinos, moslems, illegals, lamestream media. All want America to fail and die)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2755 | View Replies]

To: no-to-illegals

In an open track, top end would be the speed of sound at sea level, moderately slow. But that’s probably a little too fast for the current engineering.

There’s nothing wrong with 250 to 300 mph. If you have further to travel you might want to go higher in the atmosphere, or leave it altogether.

At ground level, the only way to go faster is in an evacuated tunnel. If we combine evacuated tunnels with electromagnetic propulsion, or even simple pneumatics, we could get appreciable speeds between cities. Think of the elevated railway.

The main thing to do with these slower modes is to have a way of sorting the people as they travel, so that each can get to a selected destination with a minimum number of stops or transfers. The same principles apply here as to a really massive high-rise, where local slow elevators take people to an interchange floor where they can move to faster routing for a period, and then get another local to their selected location.

Such elevator systems could integrate with surface transportation to get a traveler from one massive building in one city to another in a different city many miles away in just minutes.


2,757 posted on 01/10/2019 5:22:54 PM PST by NicknamedBob (If you can't do something well, you won't do anything good.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2755 | View Replies]

To: Tax-chick; fanfan; ColdOne; Cyber Liberty; null and void; Anoreth; Monkey Face; ...

2,758 posted on 01/11/2019 2:26:14 AM PST by Tax-chick (What can I do to fight entropy today?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2743 | View Replies]

To: moose07; Tax-chick; Monkey Face
Bishop Katz is not not amused by all this talk of St. Bernard dogs...


2,759 posted on 01/11/2019 2:40:42 AM PST by Covenantor (Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern. " Chesterton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2752 | View Replies]

To: Covenantor

not not

who’s there?


2,760 posted on 01/11/2019 2:41:54 AM PST by Covenantor (Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern. " Chesterton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2759 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 2,721-2,7402,741-2,7602,761-2,780 ... 6,541-6,560 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson