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 ...
It’s raining, ugly and overcast, and I really want to sit in my rocker and crochet some dishcloths for the niece that housed me because she needs more than a card, and I saw a knitted dishcloth on her sink that indicated it needed to be replaced a long time ago.
I did watch a “New Tricks” and a “Midsomer,” but my back is trying to tell me it was the worst thing I could have done to sit here for as long as I did.
I’m so sorry WW was unnngh. I won’t be doing laundry until next Monday, because CFIDS/ME. That’s going to get worse before it gets better.
High their, SG!
:o]
It’s been muttering strange invocations.
I dreamed I was going somewhere with Anoreth, but her car was parked at a construction site, and when she tried to get in it, her dog attacked a cow. Then the phone rang. It was the tire shop, saying they’ve repaired the tire from the Avalon. I’ll go get it after I have a cup of tea.
The bovine Invaders from the moooookey way are insidious.
The tea is working: I actually got that.
Tom the Son has appeared. He was supposed to get the Altima washed, but he said the wait was too long at Auto Bell, as if his time was worth anything.
Well, time does have a value that varies.
Once spent it can not be retrieved.
It can both have no value and infinite value at the same time.
He could play a game on his beeber-like device while waiting for the car to be cleaned.
No thanks, I don’t partake.
Hopefully no evidence of pentagrams drawn all over the floor or sacrificial ceremonies?
Did you eat something heavy between the twerp-and-noodle library expedition and the nap? Maybe something that occurred at the WW meeting screwed up your sense of internal harmony. Anyway, glad you’re getting the tire back in a functional and timely manner.
That makes too much sense.
No, but there are strange markings similar to a cross between cuneiform and rongo rongo.
Splendid! That narrows it down from the 31st Century B.C. and the 1800’s. Well done, my good man!
No, just a banana. Sometimes one’s subconscious just goes loo-loo.
What a pretty Morning Floof!
Good morning. I slept in. Again. Maybe I’m not really sleeping in but have self-adjusted my inner clock to where I don’t have so many hours to wile away between arising and the opening of the local establishments.
I have to go to the pain clinic today, but yesterday, the ophthalmologist’s office called to reschedule the appointment. That’s the third time its been changed since I originally made it.
It’s chilly this morning, and I’m thinking I’m never going to warm up. I see folks in short sleeves and shorts, and I’m still in long sleeves and heavy pants. And a hoodie.
At least when I go in to take my shower, the bathroom will be warm. Then I have to clean up the birds. Chuck took care of them on Friday, but they still don’t look good. I have to call and make an appointment for Beaker’s nose job. I need to take Gonzo in, but I can’t afford both at the same time.
My brain isn’t working right, and the CFIDS/ME relapse that was at bay while I was gone is back with a vengeance, as I knew it would be. I want a nap! :o]
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