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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: Darksheare; Covenantor; Silentgypsy

I read an interesting novel recently called “The Abominable” that discsused a lot of this stuff in relation to climbing Everest in the late 1930s/early 1940s.

I won’t recommend the novel because the Abominable wasn’t a yeti, it was human behavior that I didn’t need to read about. I won’t spoil it more in case you decide to read it anyway. The fact that it wasn’t about Yeti was in the jacket flap.


4,001 posted on 02/21/2019 6:35:07 AM PST by ArGee (I trust people with freedom more than I trust government with power.)
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To: Tax-chick; Monkey Face; NicknamedBob; NoCmpromiz; null and void; no-to-illegals; Silentgypsy; ...

Yellow!

Happy Friday Eve!!!

All snow is now slush, but at least we had alternate-side parking canceled for this morning so 2 days without moving the car is a big win.


4,002 posted on 02/21/2019 6:36:16 AM PST by ArGee (I trust people with freedom more than I trust government with power.)
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To: Monkey Face

w00t!


4,003 posted on 02/21/2019 6:39:04 AM PST by ArGee (I trust people with freedom more than I trust government with power.)
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To: Monkey Face

Being on hold is intolerable.


4,004 posted on 02/21/2019 7:01:03 AM PST by Tax-chick (They should have listened to Julian Simon.)
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To: Tax-chick; ArGee

Thanks, ArGee!

A few minutes after my last post, I called St George and cancelled the appointment, and asked the answering service to note that I want the next early appointment available, and then I decided to go to Wally’s because I was out of things.

Let me say this: I’m glad I cancelled. Though the BB SUV has 4WD, there is still the defroster factor, and as I was driving down the lane to exit the complex, snow was falling.

As it was, I had to remove over 4” of the stuff from all the windows and a small build-up on the outside mirrors before I could even open the door. I was surprised to see the 4”. I thought maybe two, at most. All I could think of was, “Welcome to Utah! The greatest snow on earth!”

When I got out of Walmart 20 minutes after going in, the snow was coming down harder and it was the little flakes that make excellent skiing, but turn to slush in a heartbeat. I hate to even think what the roads would be like on the way into St G.


4,005 posted on 02/21/2019 8:17:55 AM PST by Monkey Face (If you have half a mind to do something it would be wise to consult the other half before acting.)
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To: ArGee

Americans seem to have a tendency to drop their trash anywhere. I think there was also a book about “The Ugly American,” but I was young enough that it held no interest for me. However, I’ve seen enough “trashy” people to always be mindful of what I do with the trash I generate.


4,006 posted on 02/21/2019 8:23:59 AM PST by Monkey Face (If you have half a mind to do something it would be wise to consult the other half before acting.)
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To: Tax-chick

Having been a telephone CSR for a long time, I know the panic that rises when the calls waiting for service are “in the red.” It seemed to happen when everyone was out sick or too many people were at lunch.


4,007 posted on 02/21/2019 8:27:41 AM PST by Monkey Face (If you have half a mind to do something it would be wise to consult the other half before acting.)
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To: Tax-chick

It’s also interminable.

At least it feels that way.


4,008 posted on 02/21/2019 8:50:38 AM PST by ArGee (I trust people with freedom more than I trust government with power.)
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To: Darksheare; ArGee

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Sports-Outdoors-Ice-Snow-Traction-Cleats/zgbs/sporting-goods/5160160011


4,009 posted on 02/21/2019 9:09:41 AM PST by Silentgypsy ( “If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.”__Scorpion)
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To: Darksheare; ArGee

Don’t yeti/yetis have thick fur? Once, we were in front of the house getting ready to go for a walk with our dogs when the silly German Shedder across the street came over to bite her in the back. Newfoundlands have lots of fur. She didn’t notice it. One of the other dogs and I went after the attacker and she ran back across the street and scaled the fence to get away. Crampons sound good to have around, but I should think it would be safer to use a grenade launcher to chase away a yeti.


4,010 posted on 02/21/2019 9:16:35 AM PST by Silentgypsy ( “If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.”__Scorpion)
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To: Covenantor; Darksheare

Nope. Never saw golf shoes.


4,011 posted on 02/21/2019 9:17:53 AM PST by Silentgypsy ( “If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.”__Scorpion)
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To: Darksheare; Covenantor

Never saw hobnail boots, either.


4,012 posted on 02/21/2019 9:19:35 AM PST by Silentgypsy ( “If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.”__Scorpion)
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To: Tax-chick

Thank you for beautiful basket kitteh!


4,013 posted on 02/21/2019 9:21:47 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; no-to-illegals; NoCmpromiz; NicknamedBob; Darksheare; moose07; ...

G’orning/G’daft ernoon, y’all!


4,014 posted on 02/21/2019 9:26:02 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

:waving:

:o]


4,015 posted on 02/21/2019 9:29:56 AM PST by Monkey Face (If you have half a mind to do something it would be wise to consult the other half before acting.)
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To: Monkey Face

Ah, you have survived the slippery stuff intact! Good news! P.S. When I’m on hold, I put phone on speaker and open mail and do boring paperwork, brush the cats, watch TV, read magazines, etc. They’re not gonna get rid of me that easily. Being bored by two things simultaneously is less stultifying than being bored by one. It’s a good idea to keep the reason for the call sitting on your keyboard or somewhere handy because you can become so involved with other stuff that, by the time you get a human on the line, you may have forgotten why you’ve called.


4,016 posted on 02/21/2019 9:41:16 AM PST by Silentgypsy ( “If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.”__Scorpion)
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To: Darksheare

You were in artillery. What is the recommended way to stop a yeti?


4,017 posted on 02/21/2019 9:43:34 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
What is the recommended way to stop a yeti?

I was never part of the artillery, but I would answer, 'Don't get him started."

4,018 posted on 02/21/2019 10:32:05 AM PST by ArGee (I trust people with freedom more than I trust government with power.)
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To: Silentgypsy; Tax-chick; Monkey Face; Darksheare

4,019 posted on 02/21/2019 11:20:42 AM PST by Covenantor (Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern. " Chesterton)
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To: Covenantor
Black Rifle Coffee Company rep.


4,020 posted on 02/21/2019 11:23:06 AM PST by Covenantor (Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern. " Chesterton)
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