You Have A 'Breathprint'
Breath On A Mirror Cea.And scientists want to use it to test for illnesses, as they would with your blood or urine. Right now, if doctors want to test you for something, they'll probably draw blood or politely ask you to pee in a cup. Nothing wrong with that, but it'd certainly be convenient if they just asked you to keep breathing instead. Researchers in Zurich are looking into the process of using "breathprints"--the unique characteristics of a person's breath--to test for illnesses. With a technique known as mass spectrometry, which separates and patterns molecules by measuring their masses, the team mapped 11 volunteers' chemical patterns by having them breath through an instrument attached to the mass spectrometer. Each resulting pattern was unique, and the patterns didn't change much throughout the day. That's not quite the same as being able to see diseases, though. The researchers still have to determine which...