Rooting out bombs.

• Autores: Charles Choi
• Localización: Scientific American, ISSN 0036-8733, Vol. 290, Nº. 4, 2004, págs. 34-34
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The article discusses the possibility that genetically engineered vegetation could be used to detect hidden land mines worldwide. Land mines kill or Injure some 26,000 people every year, and roughly 110 million remain unexploded in about 64 countries. Biotechnology firm Aresa Biodetection in' Copenhagen has modified the common garden weed thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana). If their roots detect chemicals common to explosives, such as nitrogen dioxide, that leak out as mines corrode, the plants react as if it were autumn and change from green to red in three to six weeks. The plant will be used to clear mines in restricted areas such as Bosnia and Sri Lanka. The company, which announced the plant's creation on January 24, is also working on plants to detect and remove heavy metals in polluted soil.