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Lord
of the bees
UM
researcher creates media buzz
Honey
bees are good for more than making honey. UM Research Professor
Jerry Bromenshenk says they could actually save lives and
revitalize agriculture.
With
funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,
Bromenshenk and fellow researchers have shown that bees
can be conditioned or trained to find trace levels of chemicals
and biologicals, including vapors from explosives in land
mines.
The
United Nations estimates that there are 110 million unexploded
land mines worldwide that maim or kill about 26,000 people
each year.
In
war-torn countries, croplands have been mined to render
fields uncultivable and produce agricultural shortfalls
that lead to malnutrition and famine. The first step to
restore agriculture is to locate and remove land mines,
unexploded ordinance (UXO), and other chemical and biological
warfare agents. The second step is to bring back agriculture.
That's
where Bromenshenk's bees come in. Honey bees play a critical
role in each step because they offer the only land mine
and UXO detection system that does not require a person
to walk through or be close to mine fields. Bees also can
revitalize agriculture based on their roles as pollinators
and producers of honey and wax.
Bromenshenk's
pioneering research has brought worldwide attention to UM.
The work of his research team has been mentioned by major
media outlets such as The New York Times, MSNBC, Rolling
Stone and even "The Tonight Show." All the major
networks also have been calling to interview him later this
fall after his latest findings are published in Science.
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