Portuguese designer Susana Soares has developed a device for detecting cancer and other serious diseases using trained bees. The bees are placed in a glass chamber into which the patient exhales; the bees fly into a smaller secondary chamber if they detect cancer. Scientists have found that honey bees – Apis mellifera – have an extraordinary sense of smell that is more acute than that of a sniffer dog and can detect airborne molecules in the parts-per-trillion range. Bees can be trained to detect specific chemical odours, including the biomarkers associated with diseases such as tuberculosis, lung, skin and pancreatic cancer.
I initially saw the first word in the thread title as "Beers"… Saw a medical advance to be thrilled over.
Obviously, this is an amazing finding that will go absolutely no where. Hospitals won't be able to figure out how to charge you thousands of dollars for allowing bees to smell your breath; therefore, this is not a diagnosis device that will gain any acceptance within the American medical community. In this country, not only do you "pay to play, " you must "pay to survive." Patients are just another commodity to be traded on the stock exchange. Relief from suffering is just another product to be peddled. Turning to nature, and using common sense, is not profitable.
Getting it approved for use as a medical device, could be a problem. But with doctors in the family, I would state it would not be the doctor, blocking the use of any tool that would help him diagnosis a pacient.
Many of our most amazing scientific and engineering achievements have been found from observing nature and finding new applications.
How do you put the 'Obamacare Medical Device Tax' on this one? I think it will not be used when there are more expensive methods for hospitals to use.
Hmmm... lets see.. with the continued risk of colony collapse and the training required for each Bee, and each bee needs a license/certificate to verify training... and only Monsanto has the ability to verify if the bees have been genetically enhanced....... I think the cost with tax title and tags would be around $5,000.00 Per Bee.... during the summer Bees live 4-6 weeks ... damn it's a gold mine.... Plus we can sell the honey!!!
