2021年5月25日 星期二

Scientists have taught bees to smell the coronavirus

 

Scientists have taught bees to smell the coronavirus

科學家教導蜜蜂嗅出冠狀病毒

【摘要2021/05/24 自由】陳成良

Scientists in the Netherlands have trained bees to identify COVID-19 through their sense of smell, according to a press release from Wageningen University.

瓦赫寧恩大學發布新聞稿聲稱,荷蘭科學家已訓練蜜蜂透過嗅覺,識別2019冠狀病毒病(COVID-19,武漢肺炎)。

The research was conducted on more than 150 bees in Wageningen University’s bio-veterinary research laboratory.

這項研究是在瓦赫寧恩大學生物獸醫研究實驗室對150多隻蜜蜂進行的。

The scientists trained the bees by giving them a treat — a sugar-water solution — every time they were exposed to the scent of a mink infected with COVID-19. Each time the bees were exposed to a non-infected sample, they wouldn’t get a reward.

科學家透過獎勵糖水溶液來訓練蜜蜂,每次蜜蜂在聞到感染COVID-19的貂身上氣味時,都會獲得獎勵。如果蜜蜂聞到的是沒被感染病毒的氣味樣本,則不會獲得獎勵。

Eventually, the bees could identify an infected sample within a few seconds — and would then stick out their tongues like clockwork to collect the sugar water.

最終,這些蜜蜂可以在幾秒鐘內識別出感染的樣本,而且牠們的舌頭會像發條一樣,伸出來吸取糖水。

Bees aren’t the first animals to detect COVID-19 by scent. Researchers have also trained dogs to distinguish between positive and negative COVID-19 samples from human saliva or sweat with fairly high levels of accuracy.

蜜蜂不是第一種透過氣味識別COVID-19的動物。研究人員也曾訓練狗區分來自人類唾液或汗液的陽性和陰性COVID-19樣本 ,準確率相當高。

新聞辭典

treat:名詞,招待;獎勵。例句:It’s my treat.(我請客。)

expose:動詞,暴露。例句:He damaged his leg so badly in the accident that the bone was exposed.(他在意外中大腿受重傷,骨頭都露出來了。)

clockwork:名詞,鐘錶裝置;發條裝置。例句:After the clockwork of the watch was cleaned, the watch kept perfect time.(那只手錶的發條裝置擦乾淨後,走起來就非常精確了。)

 

沒有留言:

張貼留言