Science and Bioethics

P.S.

Here is the link to the article published in Science…: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/362/6410/35

A research program designed and funded by the United States Department of Defense, named “Insect Allies” (Insect Allies), takes genetic engineering to a new level. The alarm of scientists

Of Tiziano Gomiero

Lor last 5 October, in the magazine Science, one of the most important international scientific journals, a long article was published, signed by some eminent European scientists, from the title Agricultural research, or a new bioweapon system? (Agronomic research, or a new biological weapons system?). The articleit is a reflection (or perhaps better a complaint) on the research program designed and funded by the United States Department of Defense, named Insect Allies (Insect Allies).
The research project, which takes genetic engineering to a new level, It aims to modify the DNA of plants grown directly in the field, through genetically modified viruses (Gm), transferred to crops by insects, and able, in turn, to engineer the genome of infected plants. GM viruses will be transmitted to crops by phytophagous insects (like aphids, grasshoppers, bedbugs), bred and infected with such viruses, during their feeding activities. Once in the plants, GM viruses modify the genome to make it capable of making the plant produce substances, or physiological responses, that help the plant itself cope with stress. This, according to the Department of Defense.
The Pentagon explained that the research program aims to develop a crop protection system capable of rapidly acting on the plant genome, to help them cope with extreme events, such as drought or pest attacks. In such eventualities, a population of modified insects can be released onto crops. Insects, inoculating the plants with the GM viruses with which they were infected, they allow viruses to modify their physiology to better adapt it to the specific stress to which the plants are subjected. According to the Department of Defense, Insects infected with GM viruses should not be able to survive more than two weeks after release, to prevent them from becoming a problem for the crops themselves, but it is not clear how this can be ensured.