DARPA plans to spread viruses using insects: scientists sound the alarm about the dangers
DARPA plans to spread viruses using insects: scientists sound the alarm about the dangers
A team of scientists sounds the alarm in a new report from the Science Policy Forum about a mysterious program of the United States government that is developing genet ...
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A team of scientists sounds the alarm in a new Forum of Scientific Policies. report about a mysterious program of the United States government that is developing genetically modified viruses that would be dispersed in the environment using insects.by Tyler Durden
Insects infected by the virus or 'Frankenstein' are being developed as countermeasures against possible natural and artificial threats to the US food supply. UU The program is operated by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Pentagon (DARPAthey warned that they could be seen as an attempt to develop a whole new class of biological weapons that would encourage other nations to look for similar weapons.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology and the University of Freiburg, both in Germany and at the University of Montpellier in France, suggest that the DARPA program could violate the Biological Weapons Convention, the first multilateral disarmament treaty that prohibits development, production and storage. Of biological and toxin weapons.
Nicknamed the program "Allies of insects", DARPA began modifying insects in 2017, with the plan to produce more resistant crops to help farmers cope with climate change, drought, frost, flood, salinity and diseases, said Gizmodo. The technology at the center of the program is a completely new method to modify crops genetically.
Instead of modifying seeds in a laboratory, farmers sent swarms of insects to their crops, where genetically modified insects would infect the plants with a virus that passes along the new genes of resilience, a process known as horizontal genetic alteration. Hence the name of the technology: horizontal environmental genetic alteration agents (HEGAA).
For HEGAA to work, Gizmodo explains that DARPA laboratories develop a virus that is inserted into the chromosome of a target organism. Scientists would use grasshoppers, whiteflies and aphids genetically altered in the laboratory using CRISPR, or a variant of a gene-editing system, to bring the virus to crops.Each plant would become infected with the insect, which would cause the expected effects of protecting crops from natural or man-made threats..
However, the report's lead author, Richard Guy Reeves, of the Department of Evolutionary Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, says DARPA's Insect Allies program is worrisome and an example of dual-use research in which the government of I know. UU To help the farmers' crops, a biological weapon is also being developed.
Insect Allies are backed by $ 27 million in funds. According to Gizmodo, there are four academic research teams currently working on the project., including researchers from the Boyce Thompson Institute in New York, the State University of Pennsylvania, the Ohio State University and the University of Texas at Austin.
DARPA It maintains that "all work is done inside closed laboratories, greenhouses or other insured facilities", and that the insects have a built-in useful life to limit their spread. By 2020 or 2021, DARPA plans to test insects infected with the virus in crops in greenhouses in undisclosed locations.
Reeves said the use of insects as vehicles for genetic modification is a horrible idea because they can not be controlled and indicates that traditional aerosols to deliver HEGAAs are the safest bet. DARPA says that insects are the only practical solution, since aerial spraying by HEGAA would require more agricultural infrastructure, something that is not available to all farmers.The report specifies how currently there is no global regulatory framework to support this new way of transporting HEGAAs to crops, which if not properly monitored, could lead to possible setbacks.
The report's scientists interpret DARPA's insect program as "an intention to develop a means of delivering HEGAA for offensive purposes," such as conducting biological warfare..
These genetically modified insects could be implanted with a dangerous plant death disease that the Trump administration could unleash on farmland in Venezuela, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Russia and even China, which would decimate the food supply of countries.
The introduction of this potentially dangerous technology, the scientists argue, would introduce a whole new class of biological weapons sent by insects that could be considered weapons of mass destruction. Scientists warn that this technology could stimulate rival nations to develop similar insect programs.
Read: Human DARPA genetically modified for a super soldier army
In response to a question from Gizmodo, a DARPA spokesperson said he welcomed the academic dialogue on the Insect Partners program, but criticized the conclusion of the report and said it was "misleading and dotted with inaccuracies."
Blake Bextine, DARPA Program Manager for Insect Allies, rejects many of the claims made by Reeves.
"DARPA is not producing biological weapons, and we reject the hypothetical scenario," Bextine told Gizmodo.
"We accept and agree with the concerns about the possible dual use of technology, a problem that arises virtually with each new and powerful technology." These concerns are precisely the reason why we structure the Insect Ally program in the manner We did it, as a transparent and university-led organization. "Fundamental research effort that benefits from the active participation of regulators and ethics and proactive communication to policy makers," said Bextine.
The purpose of the Insect Ally program, he says, is to prepare for a new era of emerging threats to American agriculture. Brextine added that DARPA is evaluating the possible environmental impacts of the HEGAA.
"DARPA is extraordinarily sensitive to environmental risks and effects outside the target, and has structured the Insect Ally program to identify and mitigate them," he said. "DARPA has demanded multiple levels of biosecurity and biosecurity in each stage of the program."
If the DARPA program is successful, they will have developed gain-of-function treatments that can be delivered to the "right plants" and the "right tissue," he said. In other words, DARPA wants precision guided biological weapons insects.
Jason Delborne, an associate professor at North Carolina State University, an expert in genetic engineering, says the concerns seem "appropriate."
"The social, ethical, political and ecological implications of producing HEGAA are significant and deserve the same level of attention as the exploration of the science behind the potential technology," Delborne told Gizmodo.
"The authors argue persuasively that the specification of insects as the preferred delivery mechanism for HEGAA is badly justified by the visions of agricultural applications, the infrastructure and experience required to pulverize agricultural fields, at least in the context of the Member States. United, it is well established, and this distribution mechanism offers greater control over the possible spread of a HEGAA. "
DARPA could be on the cusp of obtaining a new biological weapon that would surely be used against Venezuela, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Russia and even China, to paralyze the food supply of the countries and lead to a regime change without firing . a firing signal - this is the future of war.
SOURCE LINK ERESVIRAL.COM https://www.beviral.online
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