Detection kit battles trade in bear parts

With illegal trade in bear products growing, customs officers will soon be able to test a range of merchandise for bear-derived ingredients.

In China, as many as 9000 bears are farmed in cramped conditions where they are subjected to painful daily extraction of bile.

The kit works on the same principle as home pregnancy kits, which use antibodies to detect specific proteins. In this case, the kit’s detector reacts with seven proteins specific to each bear species apart from pandas, in which there is little trade.

Originally from New Scientist