A Danish-engineered tobacco plant that turns red when it grows near landmines is undergoing trials to establish its viability for use in the more than 80 countries plagued by the explosives, a South African newspaper reported today.
Danish biotechnology firm Aresa developed the genetically engineered tobacco plant that is currently being tested in Serbia, Business Day newspaper reported.
The tobacco leaves turn from green to red when it detects nitrogen dioxide leaching from mines buried in the soil, the report explained.
Aresa had already developed the technology in a weed called Thales cress but the plant was too small to be visible from a distance, a scientist from South Africa's University of Stellenbosch, which also hopes to conduct tests of the plant, explained.
Tobacco was chosen as the ideal crop for the project because it grows easily in most soils.
Researchers at Stellenbosch have applied for permission to conduct trials of the plant on an experimental farm in the Western Cape.
Landmine removal is usually done with sniffer dogs - or rats in the case of Mozambique - or large mine clearing machines, advancing inch by inch. The tobacco plant could, if successful in trials, provide an indication from afar of where the mine lies.
