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 ...
Resistance is futile!
Or, for those who are old enough.
We control the horizontal. We control the vertical.
I am that old.
Good luck to Sally!
When I was working, we would periodically get note pads (quarter sheets) that had gone to the recycler as outdated legal forms and come back as note pads with one end glued so we could just tear off a page. I still have quite a few of them and use them for my grocery lists during the month and names, addresses and phone numbers as I get them, before I transfer them to the Rolodex. (Not all pages are blank on both sides, but if I can find room for five or six items for a trip to Walmart, I can use up all the blank paper!)
Anyway, I ran across one that was from the Paratransit office I worked in. Flashbacks both good and bad.
I had the boys bring all their clothes downstairs so I can sort them. What a mess!
Yes, ArGee, I am that old too! I have two seasons of Twilight Zone, if that counts for anything!
That sounds like a job for SuperMom!
It's a greeting, not an observation.
Despite everything, we're having nice weather. I've been ignoring it.
I'm sure by the time I decide to go out and do something, the weather will be miserable.
Yes, Vogon poetry mechanism is fershimmeled.
Well put.
We have nice weather, too. Vlad and I picked Pat up from school. Then we stopped at Walmart and got Pat a new jacket and Vlad a pair of long pants that aren’t too short. He has grown again.
Not Wapping any Hens, thanks.
Oldasrocks plants frozen veggies, if that’s any help....
Darling, thank you!
I’m much older.
Haz a good dai to y’all, too!
Pat discovered the jacket is a pullover, rather than one that zips up, so he doesn’t want it. Fortunately, it still has the tags on. GAH.
Oh, fercryinoutloud.
I’m going to go check the mail to see if I’ve won the lottery, and then I’ll come back in and crochet for a while, as I wait to see if I’ll have some feathered company/boarders.
Lately, my hands have seemed very dry, and I couldn’t figure out why. This morning I realized it was because I’ve been petting Bella and Shooby on an almost daily basis, and when I come in, I’ve washed my hands because both dogs are very dirty. I’ve neglected to put lotion on my hands when they’ve been dried. *sheesh* My bad.
At least I got their clothes sorted and put away and their room vacuumed. I can do it again over the weekend while Pat, James, and Dan are at camp.
Off to swimming lessons next.
I've discovered that if you're trying to raise laying hens, don't boil the eggs before you plant them.
Same with bird seed. If you plant it too deep, the worms eat it.
Heh...
!
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.