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 ...
There is a procedure that will end the pain, but I don’t know if that’s the one the doc told me about. She said they would have to run a test first, and if the test worked then the procedure would be offered next.
I wanted to try it, but I couldn’t find anyone to drive me, and NV is really strict about having someone be the driver for any procedure. So strict in fact that they not only want the person’s name but the phone number and they tell them to be available within 15 minutes of their call. No taxi, no bus, no Uber or Lyft.
Now, of course, there is that one, then another steroid injection for my neck, then the cataracts, then the oral surgery... Yes, I need a driver.
W00t!
Monday I is underway!
Can you imagine trying to brush that baby? Wow!
G’orning, y’all!
Good morning, SG!
I think you’d lose some fingers.
Yes, you need a driver. I have Tom.
Tom is almost too big for my truck. It was made for the short, slender Oriental-types. I like it because it’s easy for me to get into and out of. High off the ground and the seats are comfy.
Howya doin’, ‘Face? We here in W TN have seen an end to the drenching. I hear that the eastern areas have had lots of flooding. Snakes. Wow.
Yes, bloodshed involved. How’s it goin’?
All is well, in the grand scheme of things, though rather annoying in the quotidian minutiae. To wit, Sally got sick at school this morning, so I had to roust Tom from bed, drive over to CP, send Tom home with the car, bring Sally home in the van, and next I have to back and get Pat.
On the plus side, the sun is shining, and it’s getting less cold as the morning progresses.
Jose, the new janitor, had asked about the pile of wet clothes in the corner. The building supervisor said he had asked the previous janitor, Mike, to take care of them. But, as the previous janitor had just stopped coming in to work, he didn’t know why they weren’t gone yet. “Now it’s your job,” he said, as he headed out of the laundry room.
Jose wanted to make a good impression so he decided to start with the pile of wet clothes. He got the trash barrel, put in a new garbage bag, and pulled it over into the corner. He pulled on a pair of work gloves and bent over to grab a particularly moist looking towel at the top of the pile with his right hand.
It seemed oddly heavy, so he reached down with his left hand and gave a serious pull. The towel didn’t budge. Jose tried to stand to look for something to pry with but his hands were stuck fast. He tried to slip out of the gloves but the towel was somehow up to his wrists and he couldn’t pull free.
Then his fingers began to burn. He started to yell in pain, but a pair of jeans wrapped around his mouth and neck, cutting off the sound. He felt his head being pulled toward the pile. He fought for breath through his nose as he put his boot onto the pile to pull away.
Not only was he not able to pull away, but his boot was now stuck fast. His arms were engulfed up to the elbows and burning like crazy, and his mouth and neck were beginning to burn as well. But nothing Jose tried had any effect.
Two hours later the building supervisor came back into the laundry room looking for Jose. He saw the trash barrel over by the pile of clothes, but no evidence that anyone had touched the pile. “Hmph!” he muttered to himself. “Just like Mike. Started, but didn’t finish. I’ll have to have a chat with Jose when I find him.”
That sounds suspiciously like a Darkshearean effort. I liked it!!
It has the perfect ring for a Monday morning. :o]
Exhaustion in more pleasant weather.
It’s also a reminder not to let those damp clothes sit. ;)
The damp clothes are currently almost-dry-clothes, so I’m good! But I did like that very short story! :o])
To be Darkshearean, it would need tentacles, a renegade appliance or two, etc.
He and I created a Christmas story, once upon a bored evening or two! I still have a copy someplace.
If several contributors want to expand upon the trials and tribulations of poor Jose and the Building Supervisor, I would not mind.
Sounds like a Dungeons and dragons monster.
Only existing in modern times.
Wonder how that would work?
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