Biomarkers or chemical concentrations linked to lung cancer in human breath can be detected by honeybees that – amazingly – can also distinguish among different types of malignancy via only the “smell’ of the Researchers at the Michigan State University’s College of Engineering and its Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering said that the findings could be used as a model for developing new tests to diagnose lung cancer at an early stage. Honeybees have a sensitive olfactory system designed to help them navigate complex environments encompassing foraging, reproduction, brood care, and defense, so they can be used to reliably detect a wide range of volatile chemicals – the ‘smell’ of objects – while also distinguishing among odor mixtures efficiently even at low concentrations. “Insects have an amazing sense of smell the same way dogs do,” said Prof.
Debajit Saha, who said that he and his team wanted to see if honeybees could distinguish among chemicals in human breath from that of a healthy person. Biological “noses” like those in the honeybee antennae and olfactory brain are extremely sensitive, and the bees learn odor identity and perform complex olfactory behavioral tasks – similar to dog noses that have been successful in the detection of different volatile olfactory compounds. The research was published in the journal and titled “Precision detection of select human lung cancer biomarkers and cell lines using honeybee olfact.
