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 ...
Tom cats are such good mothers!
I hope you find a good home for that new little tuxedo kitteh, soon. And thank you for fostering it.
w00T!
So, apparently there’s a game show on TV called Game of Thrones or something and they accidentally left a coffee cup on the set while filming it and now they’re going after Starbucks for product placement or something.
I haven’t watched Game of Thrones. I really haven’t liked game shows since Hollywood Squares.
But it seems to be popular.
Ha-ha!
I watched Jeopardy when my son was a baby and I knew most of the answers, every show. Then it went off the air and when it came back, I knew about one answer every show, if I was lucky. Wheel of Fortune was better...I usually beat the late Igor and he hated being beaten. Of course, he wasn’t “the late” Igor, then.
Game of Thrones? Nah. I don’t think I want to throw any thrones around. ;o]
Besides, the actors all look cold in the clips I’ve seen.
Thank you for the precious!
G’daft ernoon, y’all!
Amusing. I’ve read about “Game of Thrones” in various print and electronic media.
Except Emilia Clarke. Great. Now I have drool on the keyboard.
*snert*
*schnuckle*
*schnuckle*
That’s a senator from New York.
Err..
Wait a minute. That would be Schmuckie.
Sorry.
Never mind. (/Emily Latela voice)
Just found out my boss got laid off...
Is this a good thing - as in possible advancement - or a bad thing - as in company not on solid ground so trimming budget?
Not sure what to make of this since M$ is (in)famous for Embrace, Extend, Extinguish..
What's your take?
The Morning Floof mom is reminding her offspring it’s time to get UP!
Good morning. I slept in. Someone rang my doorbell at 1930 last night, and it took me two hours to wind down enough from the startle that I could go back to sleep. Why she couldn’t have told me in the day time that she had to reschedule her next visit by an hour is beyond me. She just doesn’t think.
Unngh!
As soon as I wake up enough, I’ll try to finish the filing that is so necessary and decide what I’m going to keep and what I’m going to toss. Because of last night’s untimely visit and the overcast, I’ve got a mild case of the slows. And I need to get rid of them, since I have to take Beaker in this morning.
That’s not good news at all, Nully. Keep us posted, please?
I think I should start reading those threads.... I might learn something. ;o]
Good morning. The Slows are a feature of this organization today, as well.
Since I slept in, I’m waiting for the morphine to work so I can get busy. It’s pretty sad when one has to wait for the pain to dissipate before one can function. *sigh*
I’ll get it done. Eventually.
A guy is supposed to come this morning with a very tall ladder to fix a downspout on the back of the house. It got disjointed in one of the storms.
Tom is going to take his brothers to see the superhero movie at 11:00. Cheap tickets!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.