Tag: Biotechnology

E-Noses Detect Disease in Plants, Animals & Humans

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
The fragrance of a rose comes from volatile organic compounds. Living plants, animals, humans, and even inanimate objects emit complex mixtures of VOCs. VOC mixtures are so distinctive that new words are used to describe them: volatilome, breathprint, and smellprint. “There are over 2,000 VOCs in a person’s breath,” says USDA Forest Service scientist Dan…  More 

New Tools to Bring Back the American Chestnut

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
It’s been a long time now since American chestnut trees dominated the forest canopies of the East, so long that there are few people alive who remember stands with trees nearly the size of redwoods or the pungent smell of chestnuts in bloom that filled the forests before the blight came. It’s taken almost 30…  More