The modern age has brought with it many concerns about government investigation and monitoring techniques and civilian rights to privacy. The newest of which is the ‘Advanced Plant Technologies’ project currently being taken on by DARPA. The idea is simple: plants have known physiological responses to physical stimuli like temperature, touch, pathogen presence, and soil contents. In theory, simple modifications would make it possible to observe when these physiological responses are triggered by environmental stimuli, without actually changing the physiological mechanisms themselves. While no plants or indicator methods have yet been proposed, I can think of numerous applications, methods, and of course, concerns myself. With DARPA hosting a brainstorming event December 12, I figured I’d share my ideas here before submitting them formally (jokes)! I think the issues here, both in practice and ethics, lie in the way these physiological responses will ‘report’ environmental changes and what environmental changes are ethical for the government to monitor.
I can think of many ways this program could both be used and abused as an environmental conditions monitoring system. I could see a practical application of touch-sensitive plants on US borderlands so that if someone were to move through a field of them, a touch sensitive response tagged with GFP could track their movement. A border security agent could use a UV flashlight to see which plants were activated and an invisible path marker would lead the way in a pursuit. The US spends billions of dollars on border protection and the related war on drugs. This could prove a low-cost system in the long term that could potentially give our law enforcement against cartels.
A potential benefit to environmental researchers could be a similar utilization of GFP tied to the temperature stress response in plants. A correctly chosen plant, one that shows a typical temperature stress response of other plants in the area or a keystone plant species that would indicate overall ecosystem health could provide researchers with invaluable information about how climate change is affecting various environments. Stratified placement of GFP tagged keystone species and regular data collection would provide data on how often temperature stress responses had been activated in the area. This could help researchers and conservationists target which areas are being most affected by climate change.
Of course, the gut reaction to having plants secretly spying on us reminds us that there are many ways this technology could also be abused. It is possible that such enhanced plants could be used in civilian areas to inform on the presence of both chemical and biological agents in the vicinity. Ethical issues could soon arise, given the requirement of search warrants, should local police departments choose to use these plants to inform them of when illicit substances have been in the area. Using them in this manner, without the prior consent of a judge, would be a violation of civil rights. Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the ways that monitoring devices, even modified plants, can violate rights to privacy. So, it is up to those developing this technology to find a way that it can be used in accordance of the law.
References
Brextine, B. (2017, November 17). Advanced Plant Technologies Proposer's Day. Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=df770e6384e0c059956de04cc41366b7&tab=core&_cview=1
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (n.d.). Advanced Plant Technologies Proposers Day. Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/advanced-plant-technologies-proposers-day
Haridy, R. (2017, November 21). Plant spies: DARPA's plan to create organic surveillance sensors. Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://newatlas.com/darpa-advanced-plant-technology-sensor-research/52292/
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