The Pentagon’s research wing – the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – wants to tackle acute radiation sickness so as to provide a form of protection or treatment for soldiers who might get exposed to lethal levels of radiation.

One of the ways DARPA is doing this is by funding the Innovative Genomics Institute, a research partnership by UC Berkley and UC San Francisco, to work on a CRISPR-based genetic treatment for acute radiation sickness. DARPA has provided the institute with an initial $10 million grant, with another $10 million to be awarded in two years depending on the performance of the institute’s research team.

The Innovative Genomics Institute has already started working on the project, stating that their objective right now is to “find genes that, when turned on or off, protect against acute radiation sickness, and use CRISPR-Cas9 to temporarily and reversibly change the expression of these genes.”

Whether this genetic treatment could or will be developed into a permanent anti-radiation shield, has not been stated, as the current primary objective of the Innovative Genomics Institute seems to be genetic modification prior to or after exposure to lethal radiation, rather than genetic modification as a permanent protective measure against radiation.

This CRISPR-based anti-radiation genetic treatment will also have other medical uses like ensuring cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy are not harmed or killed by their cancer treatment. It could also allow for longer manned spaceflights as constant exposure to cosmic radiation is the biggest danger posed to humans during prolonged space travel.