Scientists are concerned about the US plan to create

The Pentagon is planning to build an army of insects to protect crops, but from the perspective of scientists, this could completely be a conspiracy to develop new generation biological weapons.

According to the Independent, the US military is planning to study how to use insects to spread a genetically modified virus on crops such as corn and wheat to increase resistance and ability to cope with drought and conditions. hard.

The project is called Insect Allies funded by DARPA (the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) with the goal of protecting US food if an event occurs. It is conceivable that this idea is to use genetically modified viruses to protect plants immediately from adverse environmental effects.

However, despite the good intentions of DARPA of the US Department of Defense and the Pentagon, a group of scientists have warned of the danger if the "insect army " cannot control or be taking advantage for biological warfare purposes.

If this "insect army " cannot be controlled or used for biological warfare purposes.

Theoretically, the above method of the US military can help plants adapt to unexpected changes in the environment. For example, if plants have drought tolerance genes, they can easily survive through the drought season.

But if it is applied in practice, no one is quite sure that the insect army can be controlled within the framework.

The team also pointed out that, despite operating since 2016 and spending more than $ 27 million for many scientific projects, DARPA still failed to prove the existence and practicality of a project like the Insect Allies.

Dr Guy Reeves, an expert on genetically modified insects at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, said that there has not been any research or discussion about the technology of using insects to transform plant gene.

Reeves also emphasized that, although the project's goal is quite good, it is clear that it is much easier to turn insects into a biological weapon than to serve agriculture. He said that crop destruction is much faster than making herbicides or insect resistance.

According to sources, DARPA scientists have been secretly testing genetically modified insects such as white beetles and aphids to transmit viruses to corn and tomatoes.

Felix Beck, a lawyer at the University of Freiburg, Germany, said he and other experts did not want to believe the US would make biological weapons, but clearly justify the use of insects in agriculture. " not righteous ".

1. First , if they want to use genetically modified viruses to improve their weather and environmental resistance to plants, why don't they use spraying equipment?
2. Second , DARPA said that the army of insects used to inject genetically modified viruses would not be able to survive for more than two weeks, but who dared ensure within two weeks the army of insects did not spread over a wide range. great?

Using insects has more benefits than using chemical spray equipment.

Another question that Beck seems to be wondering is whether the chosen virus should actually be injected into the plant, because if only one side is DARPA monitoring, then it is difficult to prove the effectiveness of the virus for all crops.

If scientists' questions are correct, the US Army's Insect Allies program will certainly violate the UN Biological Weapons Convention.

Professor Silja Voeneky, an expert on international law at the University of Freiburg explains: "Because of the prohibition of the Convention, any biological research needs to justify rationality and serve the purpose of reconciliation. jar".

Elsewhere, a DARPA spokesperson spoke out to protect the program, explaining that the use of insects is more beneficial than using chemical spraying devices, in part by insects. limited in size and they can reach the deep side of the plant.

However, in order to avoid any unreasonable suspicions regarding military purposes, think DARPA should disclose all the content of the program so that the world community can monitor it.