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Danish Company Developing Method to Use Plants to Detect Explosive Mines
.... a Danish company called Aresa Biodetection believes it has found a cheaper and safer method to find land mines by using a plant that changes color when it detects explosives in the soil. It has conducted tests using a genetically modified thale cress plant. ... Aresa’s modified plant changes color from green to red within three to six weeks after its roots detect nitrogen dioxide leaking from explosives inside a mine. The land mines beneath the cress can then be removed more safely. ...

Ostergaard said the modified plant was created last January by the company, which has been working on the project since 2001. "At this stage, we have a prototype that we are able to induce the color change when the plants are growing in soil infected with explosives," he said. "We need to produce a lot of plant lines that we need to screen for the right sensitivity to be sure that we can go down to levels and detect a very, very tiny amount of explosives." ....

But some are expressing doubts about the plant. One group questioned whether the freshly planted cress could attract livestock into mined areas. .... Aresa’s Ostergaard said the company’s priority is to use it for farmland, the areas most postconflict governments want cleared of mines first. The cress, like agricultural crops, needs water. ....

Ostergaard said it will be at least two years before the method is tested in real mine fields. "What we are aiming for is to do testing next year and large-scale tests in 2006," he said. "Actual areas where we want to be -- we haven’t fixed plans -- but we are certainly considering Bosnia and Croatia, Sri Lanka, possibly Africa, and Southeast Asia." He said the next tests will be conducted with the help of the Danish Army.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-04-14
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=30530