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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
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To: ArGee

Hahaha! That’s like wasting five gallons of gas driving to several sales to get food or other items for a few cents less than if one had just shopped at Walmart of Costco.

Yep. I get it! ;o]


3,641 posted on 02/08/2019 10:01:34 AM PST by Monkey Face (The problem with socialism is you can vote your way into it but have to shoot your way out of it. FB)
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To: Monkey Face; fanfan; ColdOne; Cyber Liberty; null and void; Tax-chick; Anoreth; ...

3,642 posted on 02/09/2019 2:39:59 AM PST by Tax-chick ("It is a kingly act to assist the fallen." ~ Mother Teresa)
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To: Monkey Face; Silentgypsy

3,643 posted on 02/09/2019 2:40:57 AM PST by Tax-chick ("It is a kingly act to assist the fallen." ~ Mother Teresa)
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To: Tax-chick

Dat look like Hobbes! I miss that silly kitty! (But then, I miss all the four-legged kids I’ve had during my life!)

Good morning.

I slept better than I thought I would last night, but I woke up with a stiff neck. I’ve had a lot of that lately!

So. I marked the doctors I wanted to see in the directory so that on Tuesday, I can make appropriate calls for appointments. The only eye surgeon is in St George, so when I go for the cataract removal, I’ll definitely have to have a driver!

Everything else can be handled here as there is, remarkably, a pain clinic in town. I pass it every time I go to and from Walmart.

My son called last night, and we talked for almost an hour, just like before he married his current wife! He’s at a point in his handyman business that he needs help, but at times, he needs a second crew because he has to pass up jobs for lack of time. He did a door-widening project for a veteran in a wheel chair, pro bono. That’s going to give him some good reviews, I think.

He’s a good guy. And he cooks, too! He’s a better housekeeper than a lot of women, as well! :o]

I need to go make my bed. BRB!


3,644 posted on 02/09/2019 3:14:31 AM PST by Monkey Face (The problem with socialism is you can vote your way into it but have to shoot your way out of it. FB)
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To: Monkey Face

Good morning. I’m glad you had a nice talk with your son. Yesterday, I learned to read library books on my phone, with help from a nice young man at the circulation desk.

While you make your bed, I’m going to start draining some canned fruit for my potluck-dinner fruit salad.


3,645 posted on 02/09/2019 3:23:18 AM PST by Tax-chick ("It is a kingly act to assist the fallen." ~ Mother Teresa)
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To: Tax-chick

Those floofs are just what I need! Fangs!

The power cord for the Singer came, as well as 10 bobbins, so hopefully, my sewing kit is as well-stocked as it should be for any series sewing. (Said sewing kit began its life as a fairly large fishing tackle box made by Plano, back in 1975.) When I’m finished with the alteration on the slip for my friend, I’ll be able to sew up the cage cover. Right now, its just pinned into place. I may have to go to Walmart to find something for the “handle” but I won’t need to do that for a day or two. Besides...there probably isn’t enough money in my account to even warrant a trip out there.

I was telling my son of the adventures of scraping the windshield and he told me what I needed was one of those “mitten” scrapers. I agreed. But...see last sentence of last paragraph! LOL!


3,646 posted on 02/09/2019 4:40:38 AM PST by Monkey Face (The problem with socialism is you can vote your way into it but have to shoot your way out of it. FB)
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To: Tax-chick

How do you make your fruit salad? That’s about the only way I’ll eat canned mixed fruit, but I never new the exact ingredients.

I use my Kindle for books, and I’m sure I could get ebooks at the library. When I find the library...

When the weather is warmer, I plan on doing a lot of ‘sploring. As I was transferring the contents of the last portable file into the file cabinet yesterday, I ran across the information that Hurricane C of C had sent me two years ago, so I’ll be able to get some ideas. I want to make a trip or two into Zion, as well.

Oddly enough, there are already tour buses with lots of Orientals going through. Almost every person in every group knows Enough English to get by and many are fluent. But Zion is pretty in any weather. Kinda like the Grand Canyon.


3,647 posted on 02/09/2019 4:47:52 AM PST by Monkey Face (The problem with socialism is you can vote your way into it but have to shoot your way out of it. FB)
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To: Monkey Face

Try the library’s website. I could have set up the e-borrowing without help if I wasn’t technophobic.

The fruit salad is canned pineapple, peaches, fruit cocktail, and mandarin oranges, drained of all juice, mixed with cool whip. There’s never any left over.

And with that, I’m off to a Spanish religious event for most of the day.


3,648 posted on 02/09/2019 5:24:31 AM PST by Tax-chick ("It is a kingly act to assist the fallen." ~ Mother Teresa)
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To: Tax-chick

Have a fun day! Thanks for the recipe!!


3,649 posted on 02/09/2019 5:43:11 AM PST by Monkey Face (The problem with socialism is you can vote your way into it but have to shoot your way out of it. FB)
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To: Monkey Face

Just drain the fruit really well.


3,650 posted on 02/09/2019 5:48:15 AM PST by Tax-chick ("It is a kingly act to assist the fallen." ~ Mother Teresa)
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To: Tax-chick

Thanks! I can do that and make fruit punch! :o])


3,651 posted on 02/09/2019 6:18:31 AM PST by Monkey Face (The problem with socialism is you can vote your way into it but have to shoot your way out of it. FB)
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To: Tax-chick

The gorgeousness is blinding! Thank you.


3,652 posted on 02/09/2019 7:51:01 AM PST by Silentgypsy ( “If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.”__Scorpion)
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To: ArGee; Tax-chick; Monkey Face

Did y’all ever see the reviews for sugar-free gummy bears on Amazon? The manufacturer sweetened them with sorbitol which, when used therapeutically, results in gastrointestinal hypermotility. They were intended to be eaten in small quantities. Apparently, they tasted wonderful because people ingested very large amounts, and then wound up in the rest room all day. The reviews were hysterical! Consumer reaction caused the company to discontinue production because they were considered a health hazard. (If people would have eaten them in normal amounts, they would have been fine.) I wonder if anyone resurrected the reviews. One fellow used the term “trumpets of hell” to describe his post-ingestion experience.


3,653 posted on 02/09/2019 8:13:11 AM PST by Silentgypsy ( “If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.”__Scorpion)
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To: ArGee; Tax-chick; Monkey Face

https://www.amazon.com/Haribo-SUGAR-Classic-Gummi-Bears/product-reviews/B006J1FBLM


3,654 posted on 02/09/2019 8:18:24 AM PST by Silentgypsy ( “If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.”__Scorpion)
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To: Silentgypsy

Oops—not sorbitol, some other sugar alcohol.


3,655 posted on 02/09/2019 8:41:24 AM PST by Silentgypsy ( “If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.”__Scorpion)
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To: Silentgypsy

The reviews are hilarious, SG! Thanks! I especially liked the military one. What an absolute gem!


3,656 posted on 02/09/2019 8:44:28 AM PST by Monkey Face (The problem with socialism is you can vote your way into it but have to shoot your way out of it. FB)
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To: Silentgypsy; Monkey Face

Weight Watchers used to sell some fruit candies that would purge your intestines if you ate too many. They came in a package about the size of a tiny raisins box, so you’d need more than one box to overdo it.


3,657 posted on 02/09/2019 12:52:57 PM PST by Tax-chick ("It is a kingly act to assist the fallen." ~ Mother Teresa)
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To: Tax-chick

Missed that. Went to work Friday, minimal pain, about or less than before surgery.


3,658 posted on 02/09/2019 3:33:56 PM PST by null and void (Hey AOC? If socialism is so grand, why are Guatemalans coming here instead of going to Venezuela?)
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To: null and void

Glad to hear it!


3,659 posted on 02/09/2019 6:18:33 PM PST by Tax-chick ("It is a kingly act to assist the fallen." ~ Mother Teresa)
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To: null and void; Tax-chick
"Went to work Friday, minimal pain, about or less than before surgery."

Now there speaks a brave and deserving soul.

3,660 posted on 02/09/2019 7:11:27 PM PST by NicknamedBob (If you can't do something well, you won't do anything good.)
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