Scientists in the Netherlands trained bees to recognize the Corona virus through the sense of smell, and scientists trained bees by giving them a treatment - a sugar water solution - every time they were exposed to the smell of mink infected with the Corona virus, but every time the bees were exposed to an uninfected sample, He will not get a reward.
According to the "Business Insider" website, the research was carried out on more than 150 bees in the laboratory of biological veterinary research at the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands.
And bees can recognize an infected specimen within a few seconds - and stick their tongue out like a watch to collect sugar water.
Bees are not the first animals to detect corona virus by smell, as researchers have also trained dogs to distinguish between positive and negative corona samples from human saliva or sweat with a high degree of accuracy.
A small German study found that dogs can recognize positive corona samples 94% of the time.
This is because the metabolic changes caused by the Coronavirus make an infected person's body fluids smell slightly different from those of an uninfected person.
But researchers are still not sure if animals are the best bet for exploring coronavirus cases outside of the laboratory.
"Nobody says they can replace the PCR, but it can be very promising," Holger Falk, a veterinary neurologist, told Nature, referring to the device used to process standard coronavirus tests.
At the very least, animals could be helpful in identifying coronavirus in low-income countries without easy access to high-tech laboratory equipment.
For example, Vageningen scientists are working on a machine prototype that automatically trains multiple bees simultaneously, then uses their blunt skills to test aerosols for coronavirus (small virus-laden particles) in the surrounding environment.
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