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 ...
Good Morning Vietnam !!!! Oops wrong morning
I think it’s early evening in Vietnam. When Anoreth was in Borneo and Singapore and stuff, the time zone was 12 hours off from here.
You are correct and I was attempting to make a joke. Failed miserably
It was funny. I’m just very literal at 5:30 a.m. EDT.
Thank you for the correction but funny I wasn’t
The Morning Floofs look like their eyes just opened about 15 minutes before the photo was taken!
Good morning. I’ve been here, but I’ve been busy doing busy things, and if the back wasn’t hurting, I would do a lot more.
The doorbell rang about 1900 last night, and it was the guy from church whom (who?) I spoke to on Sunday about the recliner. He came with his wife and they took the chair!
So this morning, I moved the rocker, but I think I’ll move it this way a little more, about a foot, I think, and then my living room will look “comfy” and “cute” as peeps are prone to say when they see it.
The bed has been made and the steroid has been had as well, and the pills have been sorted. And now that I’m sitting here, trying to catch my breath, I’m thinking about watching another “Midsomer,” just because I can!
Yes, NtI, it WAS funny! Because when I read it, I thought of Robin Williams, and who can be sad at his humor? He was such a massive talent, and did OK for a rich kid.
How are things these days? I’ll be going in to see the ophthalmologist next week, about repairing the “sac” on my left eye, so my vision will once again be 20/20. I always think of you when there is anything to do with my eyes, and I’m still appreciative of what you did for me.
I’ll let the Lord thank you for me! :o])
Good morning. I’m feeling fairly positive today, but we’ll have to see how it goes. It rained last night, but it seems to have stopped. The cats are annoyed that things are wet, though.
Weight Watchers this morning, and then we should have the mandatory exertion expedition. If I can keep Frank moving for a couple of weeks, he should start noticing a difference.
I think my neighbor has gone for a week, and I’m anxious to vacuum the floors, but on the off-chance that her car is in the shop and she is actually home, I’ll wait until daylight.
In the meantime, the “Murders” are calling to me!
It is polite to wait until daylight to run the vacuum.
Since we live in a duplex, and since we may need to call on each other in times of need, I feel it not only the “polite” thing to do but the best thing to do. This is a small community (24 residents) and word travels fast. If I’m not a good neighbor, I can’t expect my neighbors to be polite to me.
So its in my best interest to wait a while. ;o]
Definitely. Last time we lived in apartment, the people upstairs ran the vacuum and did martial arts at early morning hours ... or what we would call “the middle of the night.”
I had one of those in an apartment in Vegas, years ago. She would vacuum at 0200 and one morning (I was getting up at 0500, then!) I decided I’d had enough, and went up and knocked on her door, loud enough for it to be heard over the vacuum.
I told her I lived downstairs and asked politely if she could either vacuum before 2200 or after 0500, and her response was surprise. “You live downstairs??” I replied that I did and she asked how long I had lived there. The answer was an even bigger surprise: 18 months. She said she thought the apartment below hers was vacant and she vacuumed when she got of work and then apologized profusely. And then we had a good laugh.
Since then, I’ve managed to live in apartments that had none above them. I prefer it that way!
So precious—thank you!
G’orning, y’all!
Good morning, all. Tappy Whoseday.
It worked for me. Not LOL funny, but funny.
Good morning. Happy Monday II to the both of you. Looks like I only have one more “Midsomer” to watch this week, so that means I have to get another on Thursday so I can have the “Murders” for the next week of Mondays.
Afternoons. Back from the non-optional exercise excursion. It’s chilly today, so we dressed warmly.
I’m glad you survived your non-optional exercise excursion!
I vacuumed, then I sorted through my DVDs and the CD-ROMs I have, some with music and some with other items, like photos and computer files that I need to put back onto the 3T slave. I’m glad I have them, because my first husband’s genealogy is on one of them.
And photos!! Lots of photos! So maybe Saturday I’ll see what I can do to restore some of them to a working file.
I’ve been either lazy or sick. :o|
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