universityofjerusalem

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  • Essam Al Sudani / Reuters

    Researchers are breeding fluorescent bacteria to uncover landmines

    by 
    Sean Buckley
    Sean Buckley
    04.13.2017

    One of the many tragedies of war are the dangers that persist long after conflicts formally end -- dangers like abandoned minefields peppered with active, deadly ordnance. Buried landmines threaten the lives of ordinary people near former battlefields all over the world, and disarming them has always been a dangerous effort. Now, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are working on a way to make landmine identification easier and safer. No, the trick isn't to build a better metal detector, it's to cultivate bacteria that glows in the presence of deadly explosives.