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 ...
Thanks for the input! I’ll try calling them on Monday because Saturday is very busy, here.
Beaker actually has an appointment for another nose job on May 7, and then the payday in June, Gonzo will go in for his check-up and have a pedicure. Beaker is the most expensive rescue pet I think I’ve ever had, barring no species, but I’m hoping that with age, the beak growth will slow down.
Nice afternoon here! Frank went on a trip with his friend from Cub Scouts; they’ll be back whenever. OldTax-lady and I, James, Vlad, and Kathleen went over to South Carolina to pick strawberries. The farm near us isn’t ready yet.
We’re going to have naps, next. Mom is staying here tonight, and then tomorrow she’s driving to her friends at Amelia Island, Georgia, and then home to The Villages and her cat on Monday.
After naps, I’ll listen to Jonah Goldberg’s interview with Thomas Sowell, America’s greatest living intellectual, and cut up strawberries.
I love reading Thomas Sowell’s works. What are you going to do with the strawberries?
But does Thomas Sowell know that?
;o]
We’re going to eat the strawberries with vanilla ice cream.
Does he know he’s America’s greatest living intellectual? It wouldn’t surprise me! He’s still writing books at 88 years old, because there are so many people out there who believe super foolish things.
Does Thomas Sowell know he’s been likened to cut up strawberries?
(I think it lacks something in the explaining...)
;o])
Awww...Look! A pair of Morning Squees!
Good morning. The shower has been had and even though I had a “bad night” with chest pains in my sleep, I had presence of mind enough to cough three times and take a deep breath. And then I went back to sleep.
Now I’m going to make the bed and help myself to a steroid and then write another letter and some thank you cards. I just hooked up the little kitchen fan and its sending the breeze in here!
I have a LuLaRoe outfit from my friends in Soldotna that I want to wear, but I’m a little twisted about it. If I wear it, I have to pull it up to under my breasts in order to keep from tripping on it. Another thing that will have to be altered before I can wear it.
There was an ad on FB St George Yard Sale for a sewing cabinet for $25 and its been there a week, but I got the old “someone else is interested” deal. I told her if they got it before I got paid, more power to them. I’d just keep looking.
I will remove the monstrous TV stand and make room for the sewing table, since Kara is not in any hurry to make mine. :o|
The kittens are in a shelter in Brazil.
My mother has just left for her next stop, with her friends in Georgia. I’m going to have a shower before any children get up.
Mom shared the room with me, because we didn’t think it would be safe for her to climb in and out of Elen’s bed, not to mention getting around all the girls’ mess. She snored a little, but she doesn’t shout, punch, or kick like my usual roommate.
Your mother doesn’t actually stay with you most trips, does she? I’m sure the lack of large and rowdy house members was an enticement. I often catch myself snoring, so I’m glad I don’t have a roommate.
Sundays seem to be very short these days. But that’s OK. I can deal with it. The weather is warmer, and that means the A/C in the church will be going full tilt. I need more shawls!
Now to write some letters!
*tagline*
No, she usually doesn’t stay with us: too crowded. On this trip, she stayed here Wednesday night, while DP and I were still in Asheville. Then she stayed at a motel on Thursday and Friday, because she got a discount on two nights. Then she was here again Saturday.
She decided not to visit my cousin in Pinehurst, because that would give her a 12-hour drive home on Monday. It’s about 7 hours from here to her destination in Georgia, and then another 4 or so home on Monday.
DP, Tom, and Sally will be home today, but Elen is taking Addie the Pharmacy Student back to High Point University and spending the night there. She promises to be home on Monday in time for Sally to go to work.
Your mother is very busy, but that’s really very good. When people retire, some of them just quit, for whatever reason. And they end up dying way before their time. My late siblings (three) were all busy into their 80’s, so I like seeing older people who travel and otherwise keep busy.
Seven hours is a longish drive, but doable for most people who are used it. I envy her! That four hour drive is about what it is to my hometown from here. I would really like to go up there! :o]
When is Elen’s Leave over with? It sounds like she’s enjoying it. Is she done with her training at 29-Palms?
Elen leaves for Seattle on Wednesday, and I think her flight from Seattle to Okinawa is on Friday. She’s been having a good time, as far as I can tell. This will be her first visit (and presumably last) to High Point University. I’m sure it’s perfectly nice.
Mom prefers to fly on her trips, but she said it’s impossible to fly on her pass right now.
So how long will Elen be in Okinawa? My life-long friend, Bonnie had one of her twin brothers stationed there. The army wouldn’t take the second twin because the dad was disabled and the farm needed farming. Apple orchards needing apple orcharding, I mean. I think he was just barely 18, but it was the Korean War, so they took whoever they could.
I would imagine this is a terrible time to fly on a pass of any kind, being the start of the vacation season. But a mom’s visit is always good, no matter how they get to your house. ;o]
Elen expects to be in Okinawa for two to three years.
They’re gorgeous! Thank you!
Mmmm.... My mother once served strawberries with sour cream sweetened with brown sugar. It was divine. We didn’t have dessert very much.
My brother and I still laugh when our mother used bacon grease on popcorn because she was out of butter! Oh was that nasty!
That sounds about right. I hope she enjoys her time there, and I hope her mom survives it, like she did when Anoreth went globe-trotting!
I was wearing one of my crocheted shawls this morning and some heavily pregnant young mother complimented me on it on her way to her pew. So when we broke for the next meeting, I gave it to her. I told her I could always make another for myself.
It was “payback” for the hugh spaghetti dinner someone brought me yesterday, around noon. Complete with salad, rolls and brownies. WAY more than I can eat before it goes bad.
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