Posted on 10/22/2005 11:35:02 AM PDT by nickcarraway
An unusual device that uses trained wasps, rather than trained dogs, to detect specific chemical odors could one day be used to find hidden explosives, plant diseases, illegal drugs, cancer and even buried bodies, according to a joint study by researchers at the University of Georgia and U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The trained wasps are contained in a cup-sized device, called a "Wasp Hound," that is capable of sounding an alarm or triggering a visual signal, such as a flashing light, when the insects encounter a target odor. The sensor is cheaper to use than trained dogs and more sensitive than some sophisticated chemical detection methods, including electronic noses, the researchers say. Their experimental device is described in a study slated to be published in the Jan.-Feb. issue of Biotechnology Progress, a joint publication of the American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
The idea of using unconventional biological sensors to detect target odors is not new, according to study leaders Glen C. Rains, Ph.D., a biological engineer with the University of Georgia in Tifton, Ga., and W. Joe Lewis, Ph.D., a research entomologist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, also in Tifton. Rats, honeybees, fish and even yeasts have all been used experimentally to detect various explosives or toxins, they say.
"We’ve now developed a prototype device that puts the idea of using chemical-sensing wasps into a practical framework and its possibilities are astounding," says Rains, who believes that the device could be ready for commercialization in five to ten years. Like batteries in a smoke detector, the trained wasps won’t live forever and will eventually have to be replaced, he says.
In the current study, the researchers used Microplitis croceipes, a species of tiny parasitic wasps that can be trained to detect certain odors by associating the odors with a food reward. The wasps are not capable of stinging humans, the scientists say. Training a single wasp to detect a target odor can take as little as five minutes and the insects can be easily bred by the thousands, they say.
The research team developed a special ventilated device, composed of PVC pipe, which holds a small cartridge containing five trained wasps. The wasps were trained to detect 3-octanone, a chemical produced by certain toxic fungi that infect corn and peanut crops. The presence of the fungi can result in costly crop losses.
The Wasp Hound contains a tiny camera that is linked to a computer to record the movement of the wasps. In a controlled test, the device was exposed to batches of dried feed corn containing either the target chemical, myrcene (a compound of neutral interest to the wasps) or corn alone. In comparison to a group of untrained wasps, the trained wasps showed significantly stronger behavioral responses to the target odor than to the myrcene and control treatments. Responses include moving toward the target odor source and congregating around the device’s odor inlet. This movement can be translated into an alarm signal to indicate the presence of a toxic plant fungus, the scientists say.
Besides detecting plant diseases, the device has a wide variety of other potential applications. In previous studies, the researchers demonstrated that they also could train the wasps to detect 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT), a chemical used in certain explosives. The wasps can also be used to detect chemical odors that are associated with certain human diseases, including lung cancer, skin cancer and stomach ulcers, they say. More recently, their group has been looking into the possibility of using the wasps to detect odors associated with hidden bodies, from murder victims to victims of disasters.
The other collaborator in this study was student Samuel L. Utley, M.S., currently a research engineer with the University of Georgia. The study was funded by the university and by the USDA. The researchers have filed a patent application for the Wasp Hound.
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization, chartered by the U.S. Congress, with a multidisciplinary membership of more than 158,000 chemists and chemical engineers. It publishes numerous scientific journals and databases, convenes major research conferences and provides educational, science policy and career programs in chemistry. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
Just damn.
What if someone slaps the little bugger. Does the guy get jailed for destroying a secret defense weapon? Puleez!!
That would mean the PETW (People for the Ethical Treatment of Wasps) will be all over their ass.
I wonder if we could use them for border patrol?
But just wait - it won't be long before some group will claim we are abusing wasps.
Apparently they keep 'em in a little container with a little tiny camera watching them, while they wait to see if the wasps go into groupie behavior around the odor inlet. (I can't believe I just typed that.):D
Yes, I read the whole thing but thanks. I work outside and found myself in the middle of a honey bee farm. They didn't bite but I was pretty careful not to upset them. I did go home with 34 mosquito bites on my face one day. Interestingly, for the next five years, a mosquito bite didn't even leave a dot on me.
I wonder if they can be trained to sniff out the gold digging superficial women that pervade Los Angeles????
White Anglo-Saxon Protestants can be trained? Who knew!?!
[petronski ducks, runs away]
I think they would encounter "signal overload"!
I think they would encounter "signal overload"!
"White Anglo-Saxon Protestants can be trained? Who knew!?!"
Of course we can be trained. My wife has me trained at all sorts of things, laundry, yard, carrying heavy objects, moving furniture, etc.
You're getting married soon (IIRC), so you'll be trained too!
Yeah, but can they fetch and slobber?
Gives new meaning to the expression
"Fly on the wall..."
in a tinfoily sort of way.
too wierd
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