【精英翻譯】的部落格

Scientists have taught bees to smell the coronavirus

科學家教導蜜蜂嗅出冠狀病毒

精英翻譯社轉自https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1450635

◎陳成良

Scientists in the Netherlands have trained bees to identify COVID-19 through their sense of smell, according to a press release from Wageningen University.

瓦赫寧恩大學發布新聞稿聲稱，荷蘭科學家已訓練蜜蜂透過嗅覺，識別2019冠狀病毒病（COVID-19，武漢肺炎）。

The research was conducted on more than 150 bees in Wageningen University’s bio-veterinary research laboratory.

這項研究是在瓦赫寧恩大學生物獸醫研究實驗室對150多隻蜜蜂進行的。

The scientists trained the bees by giving them a treat — a sugar-water solution — every time they were exposed to the scent of a mink infected with COVID-19. Each time the bees were exposed to a non-infected sample, they wouldn’t get a reward.

科學家透過獎勵糖水溶液來訓練蜜蜂，每次蜜蜂在聞到感染COVID-19的貂身上氣味時，都會獲得獎勵。如果蜜蜂聞到的是沒被感染病毒的氣味樣本，則不會獲得獎勵。

Eventually, the bees could identify an infected sample within a few seconds — and would then stick out their tongues like clockwork to collect the sugar water.

最終，這些蜜蜂可以在幾秒鐘內識別出感染的樣本，而且牠們的舌頭會像發條一樣，伸出來吸取糖水。

Bees aren’t the first animals to detect COVID-19 by scent. Researchers have also trained dogs to distinguish between positive and negative COVID-19 samples from human saliva or sweat with fairly high levels of accuracy.

蜜蜂不是第一種透過氣味識別COVID-19的動物。研究人員也曾訓練狗區分來自人類唾液或汗液的陽性和陰性COVID-19樣本 ，準確率相當高。