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 ...
Perhaps. Or maybe just foolish...
I’m impressed.
I got a palindrome post number, are you more impressed?
That's what I said.
I don’t need to eat anything with a purging effect. I have CFIDS/ME. After my transfusion, I was put on iron pills and they are a Godsend.
That's such good news, Nully! :o])
It’s a multiple of 9, too.
Precious kitteh!
Good morning! I see you got to sleep in this morning. good for you!
My brain seems to have gone walkabout this morning, so I don’t know if anything I say today is going to make sense.
.
.
*tagline*
Cute tagline. I was rousted out by Jake.
Of course you were rousted out by Jake. You’re only Staff, and that means you must obey.
I just cleaned the cage and as many times as my arm has been in and out that cage for the same things, the birds are almost apoplectic, poor things.
Before I can hem that slip, I need to adjust the bobbin tension and that means I need to read the manual again. I don’t think I threaded it right to begin with, so I’ll back out and start over. But not right now!
Good luck! Machinery is often uncooperative.
Jake is very determined.
I’m used to simpler machines, and I haven’t done any sewing for more than 15 years, so I think everything I ever knew (and it was a LOT!) has been forgotten. “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” That would be me. So I’ll get back into it again, just because I forgot how much I loved it. I was focused on other things, and I don’t want to do that again. I want to focus on the right things. And gain back some control!
We’re supposed to have rain again for the next few days, and then the storms from the Pacific Northwest will hit Utah. I just don’t know if it will come this far south or not. Global warming is melting everything!
Enchanting—thank you!
You’re welcome. Kitteh lives in New Orleans, and better him than me.
I’m scared of NOLA but would love to learn swamp survival.
First rule; stay out of it.
Well, yes, but you never know....
There are fine swamps in various low-crime parts of the country.
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.