Imagine a terrorist walking through an airport terminal ... and suddenly, the leaves on a potted plant near the check-in area turn white and the guy is nabbed almost immediately. That scenario might not be too far off, according to Colorado State University biologist Dr. June Medford.
Dr. Medford and her team of researchers have shown that plants can be extremely sensitive to environmental pollutants and explosives. Their scientific inquiries are funded in part by the Dept of Homeland Security, as well as the Office of Naval Research and DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, among others.
According to Medford, some plants are as good as, or even better than a dog's nose at detecting certain substances. "The idea comes directly from nature," says Medford. "Plants can't run or hide from threats, so they've developed sophisticated systems to detect and respond to their environment." Medford and her team have "taught" some plants to detect certain materials by modifying the way the plant's proteins process chlorophyll. With improvements, she says, plants may be able to serve as a "simple and inexpensive means to monitor human surroundings for substances such as pollutants, explosives, or chemical agents."
In research so far, the team has modified a plant's receptors to recognize certain substances in the soil or in the air, and an internal plant signal then causes the leaves to turn white. (see diagram above). The next phase is to concentrate on speeding up the detection time so that the foliage will react and change color almost immediately after it comes in contact with a dangerous substance or a bad guy. Could put some of those human sleuths out of business.
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