DARPA's Latest Triumph: Frankinsects

Courtesy: YouTube

If people weren't already suspicious enough of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) after learning about their cozy relationship with social media giants, funding their data gathering capabilities, here's the icing on the cake... GMO carrying insects that modify crops. What this means is that these frankinsects can modify food supplies turning them toxic, or at the very least inedible. But don't worry, they're the good guys, on our side... aren't they?

"A team of scientist sounds the alarm in a new Science Policy Forum report about a mysterious US government program that is developing genetically modified viruses that would be dispersed into the environment using insects. The virus-infected or ‘Frankenstein’ insects are being developed as countermeasures against potential natural and engineered threats to the US food supply. The program is operated by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) could be viewed as an attempt to develop an entirely new class of bioweapons that would prompt other nations to seek similar weapons, they cautioned."

Of course the question arises is, how can insects designed to destroy food crops save ours? This is the question coming from scientists at the Max Planck Institute when they posit that very little benefits can come from biologically engineered insects that probably violate the International Biological Weapons Treaty. I'm not a scientist and I don't write all that often about scientific or technological "achievements," but when I do it's usually from the perspective of: just because we discover we're capable of doing something, it doesn't necessarily mean we should do it... Because we can isn't a valid enough answer. So go ahead and call me a Luddite. Having the ability to destroy a country's food supply doesn't give you superiority- it gives you power.

"Dubbed the “Insect Allies” program, DARPA began modifying insects in 2017, with the plan to produce more resilient crops to help farmers deal with climate change, drought, frost, floods, salinity, and disease, said Gizmodo. The technology at the center of the program is an entirely new method of genetically modifying crops. Instead of modifying seeds in a lab, farmers would send swarms of insects into their crops, where the genetically modified bugs would infect plants with a virus that passes along the new resilience genes, a process known as horizontal genetic alteration. Hence the technology’s name—Horizontal Environmental Genetic Alteration Agents (HEGAA)."

Now what could possibly go wrong here??? Am I the only one troubled by the phrase "viral tools"?

"The lead author of the new Science Policy Forum report, Richard Guy Reeves from the Department of Evolutionary Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, says the Insect Allies program is a disturbing example of dual-use research in which DARPA, in addition to helping out farmers, is also working on a potential weapon." Please forgive my cynicism, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this technology will be used considerably more for the latter.

"Naturally, as is the case with all accusations against DARPA when they get caught working on some sadistic planet killing plot, they are denying the accusations, writing them off as mischaracterizations."

"The report was published in Science on October 5, and it is nothing short of chilling. According to researchers, DARPA “aims to disperse infectious genetically modified viruses that have been engineered to edit crop chromosomes directly in fields.”

"As Gizmodo explains, the technology at the heart of this research could herald an entirely new way of genetically modifying crops. Instead of having to wait for a plant to pass its newly-acquired traits onto the next generation, genetic changes would be imposed upon living organisms, a process known as horizontal genetic alteration. Hence the technology’s name—Horizontal Environmental Genetic Alteration Agents, or HEGAAs." Or in layman's terms, playing God! HEGAAs is the same as calling bullets Horizontally Propelled Metaphysical Existence Altering Tools (HPMEATs).

"DARPA plans to release swarms of genetically modified insects like leafhoppers, whiteflies, and aphids, that have been altered using CRISPR, or other gene-editing systems. The swarms would be carrying an infectious virus to crops that are already established as a means of genetically modifying them on the spot." "Infectious viruses"!!! I'd ask if these people are insane, but I think the answer is obvious. They go on to call the insects "allies."

There's a Biblical element to all of this... the Bible talks about swarms of locusts and I for one don't believe that these "scientists" have found a way to communicate with insects much less turn them into "allies." I seriously doubt that any good can come of this... this is a biological weapon, pure and simple and the people behind it deserve to be locked up!

https://www.technocracy.news/darpa-developing-gmo-insects-that-genetically-modify-crops/
https://freedomoutpost.com/scientists-accuse-darpa-of-genetically-modifying-insects-for-bioweapons-to-spread-agricultural-viruses/