Plant sniffs out bombs to combat terrorism

ISLAMABAD: Plants could unseat bomb-sniffing dogs for detecting TNT, Colorado State University researchers revealed.

Backed by the Departments of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, Colorado State University researchers found a way to take advantage of a plant's extreme sensitivity to environmental changes.

In this case, it's manipulating plants so they change color, going from green to white when surrounded levels by very low levels of TNT.

Colorado State University Biologist Dr. June Medford said that the goal is to manipulate plant protein to respond to chemicals in explosives and common pollutants by draining chlorophyll or turning white.