Is The Pentagon Modifying Viruses To Save Crops — Or To Wage Biological Warfare?

Alba Nava uses an aspirator to gather virus-carrying whiteflies that have been feeding on tomato plants at the University of Florida.

Jane Polston and I are walking over to some greenhouses at the University of Florida, where she’s a professor. She wants to show me how viruses infect plants, which has been the focus of her professional life ever since she first learned about plant viruses, back in college.

“I just fell in love,” she says.

“With viruses?” I ask.