Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Honey Bees Could be Used to Detect Tuberculosis

Honeybees Apis mellifera Can Detect the Scent of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (Edinb), 2011 May 3

The proboscis extension reflex in honeybees was evaluated for detection of tuberculosis. Restrained bees were tested with methyl phenylacetate, methyl p-anisate, and methyl nicotinate, previously identified from Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultures, to determine honeybee capacity for signature volatile detection.

Methyl p-anisate and methyl phenylacetate were detectable over eight orders of magnitude, and honeybees showed proboscis extension response down to 0.1 pg loading of methyl p-anisate on filter paper.

Potential exists for trained honeybees in non-invasive diagnostic tests for TB.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is gonna be the discovery of the Century. We got to be happy about this scientific findings.

I am very proud that I am one of the few Africans who are already informed about this.

We got to be proud of all those scientist who are busy day and night doing their research findings into how bees can be one of the lead creature for discovering more in the world of medicine.

Why try this in Africa, why not spread the news into the continent, it will make the people know and discover more especial on project related with sustainable enviromental development.

Kind Regards

Daniel Padwa