There are no insects in Antarctica.
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 ...
Here!
There are no insects in Antarctica.
I bet there are.
LOOK! It’s moving day! Welcome to the new digs!
Thank you, Ben Lurkin! <3
Ok, everyone, you’re welcome to unpack and find your way to the bar in the Mezzanine or the Snack Bar and Grille. Hot chocolate (with or without a bit o’ grog) and chocolate chip cookies are in both places!
Welcome and settle in for a while!
‘Face
Please check your luggage for stray crocodiles.
EEEP! I forgot about that! Thanks! I’ll commence a laser sweep and see if there are any hitch-hikers!
YAY! (What were you doing, sending some ESP waves to Darks?)
I was expecting something like the token monkey from you, in response, but a baby sloth with do!
<3
‘Face
The proper way to use insects is in espionage. Just take over their control programming and install microscopic cameras and microphones, then pack them into a regular drone equipped with a transceiver package, and send them off to enemy headquarters.
Then a whole crew of agents could fly them into the building and bug it.
Wait... didn’t 731 do this already (question already answered :p)
I love undead threads :D ... wait, when did this one start?
I miss the olden days pics from ZotS ...
Where is TOL? She had beautiful fractal pics..
I think that’s alligator, not crocodile.
Actually, this is a continuation of the original Undead Thread which was started in June of 2004 and reached the End of the Internet in December of that same year. For a full chronology of the UT, go to Nicknamedbob’s home page.
We’ve been chasing around the galaxy for a while, now. The Flying Castle has its benefits! :o]
If I’m not mistaken, TOL opted out of the ping list. We were sad to see her go, but things happen.
I sensed a disturbance in the Force. Glad I was able to finally extricate myself from the 9:30 - 1:30 meeting and drop by.
Now for my 2:00 meeting.
If I don’t pop in again by tomorrow morning, could someone see if I’m trapped in one of my moving boxes?
But don’t look in the one marked quantum entanglements, please.
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