What is the central connecting point to the cutting edge research that utilizes drones and dna testing? A dog. Florida International University Scientists are using specially trained dogs to alert on the smell produced by the fungus Raffaelea lauricola which causes a vascular disease in trees called laurel wilt. The fungus is carried by pests to avocado groves. Once an avocado grove is infected, the entire grove can be wiped out in a mere six week time period.
The video below from FIU on their Drones & Dogs Research tells the rest of the story. You can also view their official news release here.
What is so amazing about this story from a Little Pampered Dog perspective is that with all of the cutting-edge technology used – dna testing, university level researchers and drones – there is nothing that has been able to take the place of a dog’s nose and his desire to please his master.
In the words of that famous Dr. Seus book “Go dog go!”