Michigan State University researchers found that locusts can be used to "sniff out" human cancer and tell the difference between three types of mouth cancer and normal cells. They believe this could offer a "high-speed" alternative to standard cancer screening that relies on swabs and scans in a laboratory.
Previous studies have also shown that dogs and ants can sniff out cancer. However, this new research has not been peer-reviewed to verify its results and check for errors.
Locusts' Brains Pick Up Chemical Signatures of Cancer Cells
Researchers explained in a news release that cancer cells create different chemical compounds than healthy cells as they work and grow. These chemicals could make it to the lungs or airways that could be detected in exhaled breath.
Biomedical engineering assistant professor Debajit Saha and his team chose to work with locusts because they have been used as model organisms before. The team has a well-established understanding of the olfactory sensors and corresponding neural stimuli of locusts, and they are bigger than fruit flies.
MSU researchers attached electrodes to the brains of locusts and recorded their responses to gas samples from a healthy human cell and cancer cell. Those signals were then used to develop chemical profiles of various cells. Saha and his team have previously worked on using locusts to detect explosives before, so this is not the first time they are used to detect something in a study.
Christopher Contag, director of the Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering (IQ), has previously conducted research focusing on understanding why mouth cancer cells have distinct appearances. They found that it is due to the different cell lines responsible for optical differences and some of those metabolites are volatile and can be sniffed out.
So, Saha's team used locust sensors to test that and see how well they could differentiate healthy cells from cancer cells. They found that the bugs could distinguish three types of mouth cancers from each other. Researchers believe this could also work with any other cancer with volatile metabolites in the breath.
Findings Could Pave Way for Novel Devices That 'Sniff Out' Cancer
Researchers say that the findings of their study could be used as a basis for developing novel devices that use insect sensory neurons to detect cancer in its earliest stage using only the patient's breath, Phys.org reported
Such devices are not yet on the immediate horizon but are also not far-fetched as they may sound. The team explains that people have grown accustomed to technology that augments or outperforms the natural senses, like telescopes and microscopes. The technologies that make it easy to overlook the performance of natural senses have been well-accepted in today's society.
Saha noted that noses are still state of the art, and there is nothing like them when it comes to gas sensing, which is why dogs are used to detect drugs, explosives, and health conditions.
Scientists are currently working on developing a technology that can mimic the sense of smell. However, they have not completed anything that can compete with a real nose's speed, sensitivity and mechanisms. This opens an opportunity for early detection of diseases like cancer, and for early intervention to save lives.
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