"I think in the next few years, synthetic urine will replace human urine"

The laboratory industry has a serious need for synthetic urine. Researchers, drug-testing labs and other institutions buy thousands of gallons of the real stuff, mostly to calibrate the equipment used to test regular urine samples for drugs or other substances...

But human urine has its limitations: It decays rapidly if not kept refrigerated and must be frozen when shipped. It can smell, and it foams. Donors must be screened carefully for drug use or disease. Also, different body chemistry guarantees that no two people's urine is exactly alike, an irritation for researchers who rely on consistency.

Dyches said he also is getting phone calls from industries outside of drug testing, such as a manufacturer that makes adult diapers.

"We're finding lots of applications for it that we didn't know existed," he said.