We know that dogs can detect lung cancer, but the latest evidence from Paris suggests a diagnostic role for ants. Sorbonne animal behaviorists are reporting that ants can readily differentiate tumor-bearing mice from healthy ones by detecting tell-tale volatile organic compounds in urine. Ants lack noses but do have olfactory sensory receptors on their antennae.

In the French experiments, half a group of mice with weakened immune systems received grafts of human triple negative breast cancer while the other half, serving as controls, underwent a sham operation without introduction of tumor. Ants quickly recognized the difference between the two groups and then consistently picked out the those with a characteristic odor of cancer.

The investigators point out that ants, being social, colony forming insects, may be able to pass on their learned behavior of cancer recognition to their peers leading to the creation of ant clusters each capable of recognizing different tumors.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2022.1962

#ants #cancer #olfactory