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对炸药和化学武器的探测,一直是个复杂的问题。不过,植物似乎是一种理想的载体。它们很稳定,能在严酷的环境中生存,并且能自我修复。美国麻省理工学院的化学工程师麦克·斯特拉诺和他的团队正在从事这样的研究。他们在鼠耳芥中植入一种非常微小的碳纳米管,可帮助人们探测一氧化氮(一种污染物),甚至炸药和化学武器。鼠耳芥是十字花科的一年生草本植物,常用于花的发育模型研究。最初,工程师们想分离出植物中的微型能量工厂——叶绿体,来制造一种太阳能电池。
The detection of explosives and chemical weapons has always been a complex issue. However, plants seem to be an ideal carrier. They are stable, survive in harsh environments and self-repair. Mike Stranor, a chemical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his team are working on such research. They implant a very tiny tube of carbon nanotubes in the Arabidopsis thaliana to help people detect nitric oxide, a contaminant, even explosives and chemical weapons. Arabidopsis is a cruciferous annual herb, commonly used in floral developmental models. Initially, engineers wanted to isolate the plant as a miniature energy plant - the chloroplast, to create a solar cell.