ANIMALS DIAGNOSE CANCER

ANIMALS CAN SMELL HUMAN CANCER

It’s not just dogs that can smell illness in us, even worms and ants can be trained to detect markers of illness.

Next time you’re irritated that ants have gotten into your kitchen, you might take a moment to consider their extraordinary powers of perception.

These tiny animals can detect markers of illness, such as cancer. In fact, ants are just one of many creatures whose senses can register signs of human disease: dogs, rats, bees, and even tiny worms can as well.

The silky ant, Formica fusca, a common species found throughout Europe, can be taught to identify the scent of breast cancer in urine. Research shows ants can learn to distinguish between the scent of urine derived from mice carrying human breast cancer tumors from that of healthy mice.

In just ten minutes one ant can be trained, after scientists train the ants they put the insects in a petri dish with urine samples from the mice with tumors and healthy mice. They spent 20 percent more time with the cancerous samples.Ants smell the chemicals that make up odors with olfactory receptors on their antennae. Scent is their main form of communication.

Dogs can be trained to smell several types of cancers, including melanoma, breast and gastrointestinal cancers and some infectious diseases in humans, including malaria and Parkinson’s disease.

Like ants, honeybees smell with their antennae and are exquisitely sensitive to scents. Like the ants, they could be trained in a matter of minutes, and can check a test in just seconds eg COVID 19 tests.