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 ...
Awesome!
Makes perfect sense.
LOL!
For a second, I thought the Morning Floof was an “E-E Bunneh” but he’s a Ferdinand Floof!
Good morning. James surprised me yesterday, telling me he was in town all day doing his fire extinguisher job. I guess, from what he was saying, this company has the contract to do all the LDS Churches in Washington County. We went to Arby’s.
He told me something interesting. I said I had gone to Walmart at 0400 and he responded by saying I should just order my groceries online and then go pick them up. I told him if I did that, I’d never get any exercise. He comment then was: But if you don’t go into the store, you don’t do any impulse buying and you can stay within your budget. This is the young man who was born with ADHD (Like his dad and G-Ma) and who puts his second paycheck of the month into savings.
I’m thinking his wife must be an awesome person!! I can’t help but wonder how much of this was her idea.... (New level of pride in a kid I’m already very proud of!)
That’s funny!
(I meant to ping you to my first post but my morning brain couldn’t spell your screen name. After all this time of spelling it.... :o[ .)
no problem...you don’t see my misspellings of your screen name, so we’re even.
;>)
FYI: In checking my FB page just now, I found the strangest thing... An almost verbatim post of your viral rumor...by an anonymous source, of course.... It has begun.
;o]
Congratulations to Vlad’s team! That’s not a bad showing. Good luck to them in the State competition.
Are the teams grouped by age? (I’m thinking so but my brain is doing terrible things to my ego this morning, and I have to ask the stupid questions because I can’t figure out the logical answers.)
That’s so funny, Moosie! I can’t remember when I last sang that little ditty! MANY years! LOL!
Thanks! Maybe I need to go take a shower and wash my head out, and maybe my brain will benefit from it. I hope. :o]
Ping to #5149!
Middle school (grade 6-9) and high school (9-12).
Almost time to go. I guess James found a solid-color shirt, after I told him I would do it for him if he didn’t.
Glad to hear the good report on your grandson. He seems to be getting very grown up! A friend asked me last week whether I used the online ordering at Walmart, and I said No, I like to check the clearance prices. However, if I did order online, I might save overall by not buying stuff we could really do without, and not taking kids in the store, with their everlasting, “Can we get ....?”
LOL! Yes, the Mother always has the last word. Unless she's speaking to her adult children who are away from home. ;o])
Like yesterday, I saw this really cute chambray dress I've had my eye on, and I put it in my cart, got about 50 yards away and took it back. The sleeves on it were so short, it would not only show my massive scars from my trip over the yarn bin two years ago, but would also expose the flab under my arm that I can't get rid of.
Practicality usually wins.
Strange how that happened......
My Nan (Grandma) and I used to sing that song together when I was small. It kept her entertained. :D
OK. Who stole the rest of Tuesday???? I know it wasn’t due to the 700 degree heat here. That’s just normal summer down in the concrete canyon.
Oh, well. Happy Wednesday, everyone. I’ll be looking out for moose camouflaged as tourists. Although, honestly, I don’t know how I’d be able to tell the difference. Maybe the moose are more aware of their surroundings?
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