US Military Program Could Be Seen As a Bioweapon, Scientists Warn (phys.org)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: 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. 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.

Comments

A mouse corpse is a bio weapon

[goombah99]

Anything might be a bio weapon. this is a bit bonkers. Just as any high energy physics, rocketry, encryption algorithm, or computer could be a weapon and probably is.

This is just a basic research project

[rsilvergun]

on crop yields pretending to be a "military" project because Americans won't pay for anything that isn't "Defense". Norm Chomsky talked about this, the video's still up on Youtube somewhere. When Reagan hit and began slashing fed money in order to fund his tax cuts the only way to get any basic research done was to find a reason why it was "Defense" spending, since that's a sacred cow here.

Christ but we Americans do a lot of silly things...