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 ...
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]
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
Have a fun day! Thanks for the recipe!!
Just drain the fruit really well.
Thanks! I can do that and make fruit punch! :o])
The gorgeousness is blinding! Thank you.
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.
Oops—not sorbitol, some other sugar alcohol.
The reviews are hilarious, SG! Thanks! I especially liked the military one. What an absolute gem!
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.
Missed that. Went to work Friday, minimal pain, about or less than before surgery.
Glad to hear it!
Now there speaks a brave and deserving soul.
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