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Tue 10 Oct 2008Bees in glass bubbles used to detect disease and fertility
BLOWING INTO a glass bubble that holds buzzing bees sounds a little weird. But, according to Portuguese artist Susana Soares, doing so could help detect disease and monitor fertility cycles.
Ms Soares has some scientific backing for her claims: certain illnesses or, more accurately, the chemicals they release have distinctive odours; and with 170 smell receptors and a 99 percent accuracy rate, Ms Soares believes honey bees could become a promising diagnostic tool. Researchers are already working with cancer-sniffing dogs, and scientists are developing electronic noses to detect viruses.
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