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A US Army research group is studying the possibility of deploying insects to make plants more resilient by modifying their genes. Some experts say that this work could be considered as a potential biological weapon.
In an opinion piece published Thursday in the journal Science, the authors state that the United States must better justify the goal of its project Insects Allies in peacetime, in order to avoid the risk of death. be perceived as hostile to other countries. Other experts shared their concerns about the ethics and safety of research, which aims to transmit protective features to growing crops.
The deployment of insects would mark a break from the commonly used procedure of genetic modification of seeds for crops such as corn and soybeans, before they become plants.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a branch of the US Department of Defense, says its goal is to protect the country's food supplies from threats such as drought, crop diseases, and bioterrorism by using insects to infect humans. plants with viruses that protect them.
"Food security is national security," said Blake Bextine, who runs the project, two years old.
The State Department stated that the project had peaceful aims and did not violate the Biological Weapons Convention. The US Department of Agriculture said its scientists were part of the research, which is conducted in confined laboratories.
The technology could work in different ways. In the first phase, aphids – tiny insects that feed by sucking the sap of plants – plants infected with a virus that temporarily caused a stroke. But researchers are also trying to see if viruses can alter the plant's genes to withstand hazards throughout the life of the plant.
Nevertheless, the research raises concerns.
"They are talking about a massive release of genetic modification by means of insects," said Gregory Kaebnick, an ethicist at the Hastings Center's Bioethics Research Institute in Garrison, in the state. from New York, who studied genetic modification. He was not part of the team that drafted the scientific paper, but said that the technology of Insect Allies could become destructive.
Kaebnick asked how viruses and insects carrying them could be controlled. "When you talk about very small things – insects and microbes – it may be impossible to remove them" once they are introduced into farmers' fields, he said.
Dr. David Relman, professor of medicine and microbiology at Stanford, who advised the Obama administration on biodefense but is not part of DARPA research, said the project could play a role in Long-time fears of countries trying to harm their crops.
Also according to Relman, this technology could potentially help farmers fight against "a pest plant virus moving in the plains" or to protect crops from bioterrorism. As insects often spread crop diseases, Mr. Relman said that DARPA was trying to use the biology of these insects to "recruit them as allies" in the propagation of protective traits.
Although it is not a well-known name, DARPA has contributed to the development of the Internet and its mission is to search for potentially new technologies. The agency announced the project Insect Allies in 2016.
Guy Reeves, co-author of the Science and Biology article at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany, said that technology was more practical as a weapon – to kill plants – than as an agricultural tool . As a result, he said, DARPA could send an alarming message, whatever its intentions.
"It's really how it's perceived," he said.
European newspaper authors claim that the mere announcement of the program may have motivated other countries to develop their own capabilities in the field. In their view, the project also highlights the need to further discuss the regulatory and ethical concerns of these developing technologies.
Todd Kuiken, senior researcher at North Carolina State University, said he did not think the army would want to attack another country with insects. But he said that it seemed unfortunate that DARPA is funding the project.
"The mere fact that it's a military program will naturally raise these kinds of issues," said Kuiken, who last year expressed concerns similar to those published in Science. .
Tom Inglesby, professor of environmental health engineering and engineering at Johns Hopkins, said the technology is developed specifically to protect crops. But he acknowledged that it could be misused.
One can expect that a new technology can be militarized, even if that is not the intention, said Paul Thompson, professor of agriculture and agriculture. Ethics at Michigan State University, which sits on the DARPA Advisory Board.
"Once you've made that kind of breakthrough, you're in a new world, it's a morally ambiguous place, you wonder, is it something we should never do?" "
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