Ants Don’t Have Noses Yet They Can Detect Scent Of Cancer In Urine: Research

New Delhi: Scientists have found that ants can detect the scent of cancer in urine. Though ants don’t have noses, they have an incredible sense of smell, thanks to the abundance of olfactory receptors on their antennae, Washington Post reported. Earlier, scientists had found that dogs can help to detect the presence of cancer cells.

Cancerous tumours release distinctive versions of chemicals called volatile organic compounds that often show up in bodily fluids such as sweat and urine. Ants can sniff out those compounds in urine.

In these findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, researchers said these insects could be used as a cost-effective way to identify cancers in patients.  For the study, the research team grafted pieces of a human breast-cancer tumour onto mice. They then exposed 35 ants belonging to the species known as Formica fusca to urine samples from mice with, and without, tumours.   The researchers trained the ants to associate the smell of tumours with a reward by placing a drop of sugar water in front of the urine from animals with cancer. The ants spent significantly more time around the urine of cancerous mice than that of healthy mice.