Michigan State University (MSU) has conducted a groundbreaking study showing that honeybees can smell lung cancer on people's breath. This new information could change how early this dangerous disease is found and treated.
(Photo: Unsplash/ Gaurav Kumar )
Honeybees: From Pollinators to Medical Detectives
The honeybee, famous for pollinating plants and making honey, has a strong sense of smell. Researchers at MSU, led by Assistant Professor Debajit Saha, have used this skill to find lung cancer. Based on past research that used dogs to detect medical conditions through their smell, the team thought honeybees could also be trained for the same diagnostic purposes.
Researchers made an artificial mixture that smelled like the breath of people with lung cancer. It contained signs of lung cancer, such as trichloroethylene and 2-methylheptane. They made 3D-printed unique collars to hold the bees gently and put tiny electrodes on their brains to watch how their neurons worked.
Their brains responded differently when the bees were introduced to the artificial breath mixtures. This helped the researchers figure out what changes happen when cancer is present. Saha said, "We see a change in the honeybee's neural firing response." The bees could find chemicals linked to cancer and tell the difference between different lung cancer cells.
How Accurately Honeybees Can Be Found
The sense of smell in honeybees is compassionate. "The honeybees detected minimal concentrations; it was a very strong result," Saha said. The bees can mean the difference between small changes, like parts per billion, in the chemical amounts in the breath mixture.
A doctoral candidate in the study, Michael Parnas, looked at the neural data and proved that the bees could tell the difference between cancerous and healthy breath. He said they saw a clear difference between fake lung cancer breath and healthy breath because they saw several different neurons firing in the honeybees' brains.
The researchers also checked to see if the bees could find lung cancer cells that were grown in a lab. A graduate student on the team named Autumn McLane-Svoboda talked about how amazing it is that honeybees can find cancer cells and tell the difference between different types of lung cancer cell lines.
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The Future of Finding Lung Cancer and More
This new study could dramatically change the way lung cancer is diagnosed. In the future, the MSU team wants patients to breathe into a gadget with a built-in honeybee brain-based sensor. This monitor would look at the breath in real time and wirelessly report the presence of chemicals linked to cancer. This would help find the disease early and start treatment right away.
This study has effects that go beyond lung cancer. Saha and his team think their method could lead to the creation of other smell-based tools for finding diseases. "This has huge implications for the future because our sensor could help patients get accurate cancer diagnoses quickly, which is very important for them to get the right treatment," McLane-Svoboda said.
More study and development are needed to make this technology a reality, but it could have a considerable effect. The humble honeybee, which spreads pollen, could be very important in the fight against lung cancer and other illnesses.
The study shows that the natural world is complicated and has much potential. Who knows what other secrets animals and ants might be hiding that have yet to be found? The study, published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics, demonstrates how many different diagnostic tests can benefit from advances inspired by nature.
This work is a significant advance in our ongoing investigation into the potential applications of honeybees and other animals in medical diagnostics. The paper describes how biological sensors might be applied to diagnostic instruments. It suggests that, in the future, early diagnosis of illnesses like lung cancer might be as simple as a breath test, thanks to honeybees' incredible sense of smell.
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