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 ...
Life up North ...
The Morning Floof sez, “If you gonna play, you can play wif me!”
Good morning!
My oldest grandson sent me a Mother’s Day text, and in it was a pic of my two G-G Babies. The boy had on a shirt with printing on the front and being the curious person I am, I enlarged it until I could read it. “I just got promoted to Big Brother!” I congratulated Connor and his response was, “You’re the only person that read the shirt, G-Ma! I had to tell everyone else to read it!!” The new edition will be here around January 8th, 2020.
We got served cheesecake after all the meetings were over with, yesterday. I don’t know where they got it, but that was some of the very best cheesecake I’ve ever had!
My son called, and we talked for about 30 minutes, but I told my DiL that cards for DiLs are like frog hair in this town. Maybe because we’re about 60 miles from the polygamist colonies in AZ. I mean, can you imagine trying to pick out five or more cards for the wives of one son??
My daughter called when I was already in church, and since I shut off the ringer until I get out of all the meetings, all I could do was return the call. I also suggested that if she call me on Sundays, she do it before 0830 or after 1115.
The only one that I didn’t hear from that I wanted to was James, and he seems to have forgotten I’m close enough to visit on a weekly basis.
Anyway, that’s all the news that’s fit to print!
You could choose a general card, like “Thinking of You on Mother’s Day.” I sent cards to DP’s mother and stepmother. OldTax-lady, as you know, expects recognition of her birthday, not Mother’s Day.
Some of our young persons aren’t up yet. We’re taking care of Eddie the Rottweiler today through Thursday, so we’ll go over about 11:00 for his walk, 4:00 to let him out, 9:00 to feed him and shut him up for the night. Everyone who helps gets a cut of the fee!
It was never really a question. The only thing is, it’s much easier to do de jure instead of de facto. But I’ve given enough time for TPDB to determine things aren’t working.
Good morning. Oh NOES! Is it Monday the 13th?????
I think I’ll go back to bed.
If the bed isn’t threatening me, that is.
I hope everyone had a fine Mother’s Day and that you mothers didn’t have to do the work.
Not too much work. Some things I didn’t do did not go well. For example, DP ran a bath for Kathleen and told her to get in it, but he didn’t realize she needed soap and stuff if she was going to wash ...
*sigh*
I seem to recall a Calvin ‘n’ Hobbes cartoon where the mom had to ask, “Did you use soap?” but I can’t find it.
So I’ll offer this instead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4l35otdiHw
“Use the fork, Luke!” (or the spoon, the tongs, the spatula ...)
Well, I found out they clean the refrigerators every Friday.
I had left the lunch I brought in the fridge to eat out with a friend. This morning I discovered the food had been tossed (although the container was kept).
I got Indian from a place that comes highly recommended by the Indians I work with. Good food, but enough that I left some in the fridge.
It had *better* be there tomorrow.
If you’re still looking for an undead thread posted by yours truly candidate, perhaps this from today....
“World’s Most Expensive Coffee Costs $75 A Cup; Now Being Sold In Southern California.”
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3748980/posts
<snerk/>
Could you put your name on it and, “Please do not discard”?
Eddie the Rottweiler had a ball back in December, but now he doesn’t. I just bought him one at Walmart, and we’ll throw it for him when we go back to let him out at 4:00.
Has the level of competitiveness in NYC slipped that much, or is this just standard public-sector bureaucracy?
Thank you for beautiful little kittehs that seem to live in a very caring and enriched environment!
G'daft ernoon, y'all!
You saw the Kamala Harris pic, didn’t you?
It’s not a silly question. I’m dealing with people above me who are process-people rather than success people. As in “If you follow the process you can’t be blamed when things to wrong.”
I don’t know about the competition thing. But the people who own the companies partnering on this to lose a boatload of money if they don’t figure out the problems, and they’re taking forever.
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