Ofufuza omwe ali ndi University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture Idzatsogolera kuyesetsa kwatsopano mpaka $ 7.5 miliyoni kuti agwiritse ntchito mbewu kuti azindikire kuwopseza zachilengedwe kwa asitikali omwe atumizidwa ndikuthandizira kuteteza nzika zomwe zikukhala m'malo omwe nkhondo itatha.
Cholinga ndikupanga nsanja yatsopano, yosintha mawonekedwe.
Wopatsidwa ndi US Defense Advanced Research Projects Ofesi, yomwe imadziwikanso kuti DARPA, pansi pa pulogalamu yake ya Advanced Plant Technologies, kuyeserera kwa zaka 4 kuphatikizira ukadaulo wa akatswiri azomera, akatswiri azachilengedwe ndi mainjiniya.
Ofufuza ku UT ndi Massachusetts Institute of Technology adzagwira ntchito yosintha mbewu za mbatata kuti zizindikire ndikuwonetsa zomwe zingawopseze monga othandizira mitsempha, radiation ndi tizilombo toyambitsa matenda.
DARPA Advanced Plant Technologies (APT)
Pulogalamu ya Advanced Plant Technologies (APT) ikufuna kupanga mbewu zomwe zitha kugwira ntchito ngati mibadwo yotsatira, yolimbikira, yolumikiza matekinoloje otetezera pansi kuti ateteze magulu ankhondo ndi dziko lakwawo pozindikira ndi kupereka malipoti amankhwala, zamoyo, ma radiation, nyukiliya, komanso zachiwawa ( Ziwopsezo za CBRNE).
Masensa oterewa atha kukhala odziyimira pawokha pakukula, ndikuwonjezera kuthekera kwawo kugawa kwakukulu, pochepetsa zoopsa zomwe zimachitika chifukwa chofalitsa ndi kukonza masensa achikhalidwe. Matekinoloje awa atha kuthandiziranso ntchito zothandiza anthu, mwachitsanzo, kupeza machitidwe osadziwika pamayendedwe amtsogolo.
Masomphenya a DARPA a APT ndikugwiritsa ntchito njira zachilengedwe zomvera ndikuthana ndi zovuta zachilengedwe, kukulitsa chidwi cha zizindikiritso zingapo, komanso njira zoyankhira mochenjera zomwe zitha kuyang'aniridwa kutali pogwiritsa ntchito nthaka, mpweya, kapena zida zochokera mlengalenga.
Kuti zitheke, APT iyenera kuwonetsetsa kuti mbewu zosinthidwa ndizotetezeka, zolimba, komanso zodzisamalira m'malo awo. Pulogalamuyi imadalira kupititsa patsogolo matekinoloje opanga mitundu yambiri, yovuta kuzomera, osapereka kuwunika kwawo.
Ngakhale APT imagwiritsa ntchito ukadaulo kuti pamapeto pake iperekedwe, kafukufuku woyamba amachitika kwathunthu m'malo omwe ali. Kafufuzidwe ikakhala kuti ikuyenda bwino, mayeso am'magawo amtsogolo angachitike mothandizidwa ndi US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service kutsatira malamulo onse oyenera kuteteza zachilengedwe.
Source: DARPANeal Stewart, pulofesa wa sayansi yazomera ku UT Herbert College of Agriculture yemwenso ali ndi mpando wa Racheff Chairman of Excellence mu Plant Molecular Genetics, ndi amene azitsogolera wamkulu pa ntchitoyi.
Stewart amadziwika bwino m'magulu asayansi pakuyesera kwake kugwiritsa ntchito zolemba za majini kuti apange mbewu za sentinel zomwe zimatha kuzindikira zovuta zachilengedwe kapena kuperewera kwa zakudya poyesetsa kuthandiza alimi kuonjezera zokolola. Alinso director director wa UTIA Center for Agricultural Synthetic Biology yomwe yangopangidwa kumene.
CASB ndiye malo oyamba ofufuza kuyunivesite omwe adagwiritsa ntchito njira zosinthira majini ndi njira zina zopangira zinthu zamoyo zopititsa patsogolo chitukuko chazaulimi wa mbewu.
Scott Lenaghan, pulofesa wothandizira mu department of Food Science yemwenso ali ndiudindo mu UT department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering ndi director director wa CASB. Adzakhala ngati projekiti komanso gulu lonse lotsogolera pantchito iyi ya DARPA.
Ntchito ku UT idzagwiritsa ntchito makina opanga zomangamanga kuti azitha kuzindikira komanso kupereka malipoti okhudzana ndi chilengedwe kuti apange 'mbewu zolankhula'. Stewart akuti chomera cha mbatata chidasankhidwa phunziroli chifukwa ndi chomera chophweka kwambiri pakupanga mainjini amtundu wonse komanso chomwe chimakhala mu ma chloroplast.
Neal Stewart:
"Ili ndi luso komanso luso laukadaulo lomwe lingapangitse kukhala 'chomera cholankhula' chogwira mtima.”
"Kafukufuku wathu woyambirira adatitsimikizira kuti mbatata ndi mbewu yoyenera pantchito ya 'Phytosensors 2.0'."
“Mbatata imapanganso kachipangizo kosungira zinthu, komwe kali kovuta kwambiri, komwe ndi 'batire' la mbeu.”
Mamembala ena omwe akuchita nawo ntchitoyi ku UT ndi a Feng Chen, pulofesa wa zamankhwala mu department of Plant Science; Tessa Burch-Smith, pulofesa wothandizira mu department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Moleology Biology; ndi Howard Hall, pulofesa mu department of Nuclear Engineering.
Zopereka zawo zimachokera pakukaniza tizilombo pakulumikizana ndi mizu-ndi-kuwombera, kuyesa kwa radiation, zonse zopangidwa kuti zithandizire pakupanga masensa azomera omwe amatha kupulumuka ndikukula.
Mothandizana ndi UT, ndi aphunzitsi Chris Voigt ndi Angela Belcher ndi department of Biological Engineering ku MIT. Amabweretsa ukadaulo wapadziko lonse lapansi komanso kuthekera kopangira biology ku gululi.
A John DiBenedetto, wasayansi waku department ya Energy, athandizira ntchitoyi ndi zida komanso ukadaulo wazida zakuzindikira. Iye ndi Stewart adagwira nawo ntchito zina zoyambirira zofalitsa ma phytosensor.
Ngakhale cholinga cha ntchitoyi ndikupanga zida zamagulu ankhondo, Stewart akuyembekeza kuti kupita patsogolo komwe kudachitika chifukwa cha izi komanso zoyesayesa za biology yaulimi pamapeto pake kumadzetsa mbewu zomwe zingauze alimi zenizeni, komwe ndi mavuto awo ndi tizirombo , madzi ndi zakudya m'minda yawo.
Neal Stewart:
"Ntchitoyi ndiyosangalatsa potanthauzira zomwe tapeza mu 'zida' zomwe zingathandize alimi."
Malinga ndi zofunikira za DARPA, kafukufuku woyambayo adzachitika m'malo onse omwe ali ndi zinthu zonse zachilengedwe.