Ants have the ability to sniff out cancer cells in humans, a new study has discovered, suggesting they could be used for cancer diagnosis in future.
Researchers from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) discovered that ant species Formica fusca (丝光褐林蚁) has a well - developed sense of smell. It was able to distinguish cancer cells from healthy cells in humans, thanks to their sense of smell, limited trials revealed. But more clinical tests must be carried out before they could be used in clinical settings like hospitals, the team said.
To conduct their research, the scientists performed tests with 36 ants, smelling cells under a laboratory setting. First, the specialists exposed the ants to the smell of a sample of cancerous human cells. This smell was then associated with a reward of sugar solution. In a second step, the researchers exposed the ants to two different smells. One was a new smell and the second was the smell of the cancer cells. Once this test was successful, the researchers exposed the ants to different cancer cells. As such, the scientists found that ants distinguished between cancer and healthy cells.
After training, Formica fusca ants are able to detect organic compounds (混合物) released by cancer cells. "This first study shows that ants have high potential, are capable of learning very quickly, at lower cost, and are efficient," points out CNRS. This isn't the first time that scientists have used the animal sense of smell to locate cancer cells. "Dogs' noses are well suited for medical diagnosis and used for the specific detection of cancer," the researchers explained. However, training them to do so requires several months to a year. "On the other hand, insects can be easily raised in controlled conditions, and hundreds of individuals can be trained with very few trials," the researchers pointed out. "Our approach could potentially be applied to a range of other complex smell detection tasks including the detection of explosives, spoiled food, or other diseases."
