#juptr

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I’m from Juptr, baby get with an alien.

[koreaunderground]

A research arm of the U.S. military is exploring the possibility of deploying insects to make plants more resilient by altering their genes. Some experts say the work may be seen as a potential biological weapon.

A research arm of the U.S. military is exploring the possibility of deploying insects to make plants more resilient by altering their genes. Some experts say the work may be seen as a potential biological weapon.                                

In an opinion paper published Thursday in the journal Science, the authors say the U.S. needs to provide greater justification for the peace-time purpose of its Insect Allies project to avoid being perceived as hostile to other countries. Other experts expressed ethical and security concerns with the research, which seeks to transmit protective traits to crops already growing in the field.

That would mark a departure from the current widely used procedure of genetically modifying seeds for crops such as corn and soy, before they grow into plants.

The military research agency says its goal is to protect the nation's food supply from threats like drought, crop disease and bioterrorism by using insects to infect plants with viruses that protect against such dangers.

"Food security is national security," said Blake Bextine, who heads the 2-year-old project at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, an arm of the U.S. Department of Defense.

The State Department said the project is for peaceful purposes and does not violate the Biological Weapons Convention. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said its scientists are part of the research, which is being conducted in contained labs.

The technology could work in different ways. In the first phase, aphids—tiny bugs that feed by sucking sap from plants—infected plants with a virus that temporarily brought about a trait. But researchers are also trying to see if viruses can alter the plant's genes themselves to be resistant to dangers throughout the plant's life.

Still, the research is raising concerns.

"They're talking about massive release of genetic modification by means of insects," said Gregory Kaebnick, an ethicist at the Hastings Center bioethics research institute in Garrison, N.Y., who has studied genetic modification. He wasn't part of the Science paper but said Insect Allies technology could end up being destructive.

Kaebnick questioned how well the viruses and insects carrying them could be controlled. "When you are talking about very small things—insects and microbes—it might be impossible to remove them" once they are introduced into farmers' fields, he said.

Dr. David Relman, a professor of medicine and microbiology at Stanford who has advised the Obama administration on bio-defense but is not part of the DARPA research, said the project could play into longstanding fears among countries that enemies might try to harm their crops.

Still, Relman said the technology could potentially help farmers fight a "bad plant virus moving across the plains" or protect crops from bioterrorism. Since insects often spread crop diseases, Relman said DARPA is trying to use the bugs' own biology to "recruit them as allies" in spreading protective traits.

Though it's not a household name, DARPA helped develop the Internet and its mission is to research potentially pivotal new technologies. The agency announced the Insect Allies project in 2016.

Guy Reeves, a co-author of the Science paper and a biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany, says the technology is more feasible as a weapon—to kill plants—than as an agricultural tool. As a result, he said DARPA could be sending an alarming message regardless of its intentions. [...]

[gunnarsohn]

Zur Zeit auf dem fünften Platz beim #Juptr Autorenwettbewerb https://www.juptr.io/juptrblogs/_71619feb-b819-4fc9-bf75-664fde6d8c13.html

[gunnarsohn]

Fragmentarisches im Autorenwettbewerb - ersehne noch Sternchen :-) #Juptr goo.gl/HaFvin (hier: Gunnar Sohn)

[gunnarsohn]

Anmerkungen zur Blogger-Tournee - Start in Paderborn @SocialMedia_OWL

Anmerkungen zur Blogger-Tournee – Start in Paderborn @SocialMedia_OWL

Paderborn – Hamburg – Hannover. Volles Programm im November.

Im Januar folgen bislang Dortmund und Stuttgart. Weitere Vorschläge?

Man hört, sieht und streamt sich :-)

Siehe auch: Themen und Interessen matchen

Kickern mit Akkuschraubern könnten wir auch ins Programm einbauen.

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[gunnarsohn]

Meistermacher Morningshow-Empfehlungen für Jogi Löw #em2016 #MM

Meistermacher Morningshow-Empfehlungen für Jogi Löw #em2016 #MM

Ratgeber Krake Paul 2.0

Von den bisherigen vier Spielen habe ich drei richtige Ergebnis-Tipps abgegeben. Neun Punkte stehen auf meinem Konto beim Tippspiel für Freunde. App runterladen, der Gruppe Juptr Meistermacher beitreten und gegen mich tippen. Wird schwer :-) Eigentlich gebührt Krake Paul 2.0 der Respekt, denn das ist mein virtuelle Ratgeber.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-1BtEHSy…

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