Trained Wasps May Be Used To Detect Bombs, Bugs, Bodies And More

http://www.spacewar.com/news/life-05zzzzzzy.html

From: SPACEWAR EXPRESS - Ocotber 21, 2005 
http://www.spacewar.com 
24/7 Coverage Of Your World At War 

Tifton GA (SPX) Oct 21, 2005

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
(not shown)," 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.


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