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Scientists criticize a DARPA program that they believe could turn three types of insects – leafhoppers, whiteflies and aphids – into a biological army. (iStock / The Washington Post)
The Pentagon is studying the possibility of recruiting insects to fight crop losses in times of agricultural crisis. The viruses would contain genetically engineered viruses that could be deployed quickly if critical crops such as corn or wheat became vulnerable to drought, natural burns or a sudden attack by a biological weapon. The concept contemplates that viruses make genetic changes that protect plants immediately, during a single growing season.
The program, funded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has a warm and fuzzy name: "Insect Allies". However, some critics find it all terrifying.
A team of skeptical scientists and lawyers published an article published Thursday in the journal Science, saying that the program Insect Allies opens a "Pandora's box" and concerns a technology that "can be widely seen as an effort to develop biological agents for hostile purposes and their vectors." A website created by critics formulated their objection more categorically: "The DARPA program is easily armed."
Blake Bextine, DARPA's Allied Insect Program Manager, rejected the article on Science, saying the program was only for peaceful purposes, and that it had been reviewed by government agencies responsible for safety. and several insect containment protocols.
"I do not think the public needs to worry. I do not think the international community needs to worry, "said Bextine to the Washington Post.
He acknowledged that allied insects involve new technologies that could potentially be "dual-use" – deployed, in theory, for defensive or offensive purposes. But that's true for almost all advanced technologies, he said.
"I think every time you develop a new and revolutionary technology, there is potential for dual-use capability. But that's not what we do. We bring positive traits to plants. We are focused on this positive goal. We want to ensure food security, because food security is in our eyes national security, "said Bextine.
The program currently considers three types of pests as allies: aphids, leafhoppers and whiteflies. In nature, these insects regularly spread viruses among plants. Recent advances in gene editing, including the relatively inexpensive and simple system called CRISPR (for regularly spaced palindromic repeats in clusters), could potentially allow researchers to customize viruses to achieve a specific goal in the infected plant. The modified virus can activate or deactivate certain genes that, for example, control the rate of growth of a plant, which can be useful in case of severe and unexpected drought.
Bextine said that there were multiple layers of protection to ensure that this technology did not have unintended ecological effects. He also stated that the program did not target plant germ cells and therefore would not lead to hereditary traits. The goal of DARPA is to find a way to bring plants beneficial temporary changes during a single growing season.
This research may never bear fruit. This is the norm for most DARPA projects. The agency, known for its key role in shaping the foundations of the Internet half a century ago, typically funds research activities that have a low probability of success, but can yield a lot.
Food security is a major problem that is not expected to disappear in the coming decades, as a more populous planet faces climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss and increasing demand for energy. food and water. The war of cultures is another concern. In ancient times, armies burned fields as a strategic element of conquest. In today's world, threats could include the spread of natural pathogens or something engineering in the laboratory.
DARPA's description of allied insects emphasizes the rapid response functionality of the concept.
"National security can be quickly compromised by natural threats to the cropping system, including pathogens, drought, floods and frost, but especially by threats from state or non-state actors," says DARPA website. "Allied insects seek to mitigate the impact of these incursions by applying targeted therapies to mature plants whose effects are expressed at relevant time scales, ie during a single growing season."
The authors of the scientific paper claim that allied insects could potentially be interpreted as a violation of an international treaty called the Biological Weapons Convention. They do not go so far as to claim that DARPA has harmful motives. They said that if observers viewed the program as having offensive military applications, it could jeopardize compliance with the Biological Weapons Treaty.
"We argue that there is a risk that the program will not be considered justified for peaceful purposes," said Washington Post Silja Voeneky, co-author, professor of international law at the University of New York. Friborg.
She said the use of insects as a key part of the program is particularly alarming because insects could be deployed cheaply and sneakily by malicious actors.
"In our opinion, the justifications are not clear enough. For example, why do they use insects? They could use spray systems, "said Voeneky. "Using insects as a vector to spread diseases is a classic biological weapon."
The Biological Weapons Treaty allows for research that has a clearly stated peaceful purpose, said Andy Weber, a former Pentagon official responsible for overseeing nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs and currently a senior member of the Council on Strategic Risks. . Weber noted that the biological defense community was worried about the potential use of new gene editing technologies by hostile actors.
"Over time, terrorist groups and individuals could also exploit these new capabilities, but I do not see this as something that will happen this year or next year. But it's certainly something we want to move on, "he said.
James Stack, a phytopathologist from Kansas State University and member of the Insect Allies Project Advisory Committee, said the alarm from the Science article was unfounded.
"It's far from the application. This helps determine whether this approach is viable or not. I do not understand the level of concern raised in this document, and accusing DARPA of using it as a screen for developing biological weapons is outrageous, "said Stack.
"There are inherent risks in life and you have to manage them well. And I think that as we move towards an overpopulated planet, our food systems, our water supply systems, will be more and more solicited. We are going to need all the tools from the toolbox that we eventually have. "
One of these tools is the genetic modification of organisms by means of laboratory techniques. Allied insects could be so effective as gene editing technology that it could become a standard procedure for farmers, said Guy Reeves, co-author of the paper Science and Evolution Biologist at the Max Institute. Planck of evolutionary biology. He added that the genetic modifications – brought by what he calls "horizontal environmental genetic alteration agents" – would probably spread in fields reserved for non-genetically modified organic crops.
"If this program is acceptable, and if we decide we want to go ahead with this technology, why would we use another technology for anything?", He said. "If this technology works, almost by definition, national governments will not be able to control its spread."
DARPA said this week that the Insect Allies program includes grants to four research institutes: the Boyce Thompson Institute, the Penn State, the Ohio State, and the University of Texas at Austin.
The research is still in its initial phase, said Bextine. The first major achievement is the demonstration that an aphid can infect a mature corn plant with a modified virus containing a gene that creates a florescence.
The corn was shining.
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