GE has reportedly grabbed the opportunity to nurture the $6.3 million project funded by DARPA on a quest to develop Bio-inspired chemical sensors. Apparently, the researchers at GE have discovered that the nanostructures forming the wing scales of butterflies possess an unique chemical sensing property.
Sensing the wide-array of applications possible with the small form factor and low development costs in incorporating the chemical sensing property into their research hardware, GE proposed to use this technology in Bio-hazard monitoring and health safety operations like emission monitoring at power plants, food & beverage safety monitoring, domestic water purification testing, breath analysis for detection of diseases and wound healing assessment. One could only breathe a sigh of relief, if this dream project kicks off some real life implementation!