Dutch researchers trained bees to recognize Covid-19 in just a few seconds thanks to their sense of smell that was as highly developed as that found in dog reports. The Huffington Post.
The virus causes a change in the body’s metabolism, where It then emits a specific smell that can be detected by the sniffing bees.
Pavlov’s method
The researchers used Pavlov’s method: When bees were exposed to the virus with samples positive for Covid-19, they were rewarded with sugar water.
The insects ended up associating the sugar water with the scent of the virus so that the bees would eventually squeeze out their tongues as soon as they detected a positive sample.
According to Professor Wim Van Ball, “There is no risk of bees spreading the virus” Bees are not allergic to it.
Dutch firm InsectSense and Wageningen Bioveterinary Research are behind the project.
This diagnostic system is nicknamed BeeSense, It could allow less developed countries to better screen for Covid-19, Huffingtonpost explains.
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