VOA News| Thursday, November 7, 2024 
Can honeybees and dogs detect cancer earlier than technology? 

Washington — Researchers at Michigan State University recently discovered that honeybees, with their keen sense of smell, can sniff out lung cancer on a patient’s breath. “Our world is visual. Insects’ world is all based on smell, so their sense of smell is very, very good,” says Debajit Saha, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Michigan State University, who was part of a team that published research on the discovery last month. “There is quite a bit of research that shows that when some cancer grows inside our body, our breath actually changes. Our research does show that honeybees can detect lung cancer and possibly other diseases based on the smell of those cells.” Saha and his team harnessed the bees and attached electrodes to their brains. The insects were then exposed to synthetic compounds that mimicked the breath of a lung cancer patient. Ninety-three percent of the time, the bees could tell the difference between the cancer breath and the artificial breath of a healthy person. The bees could also distinguish between different types of lung cancer. The discovery could have implications for early detection of many cancers, including lung, breast, head and neck, and colorectal cancers…Read more