The smell of ants could help detect cancer and other diseases

The effectiveness of the smell of dogs is known to detect and, above all, to discriminate minimal amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), those tiny molecules that identify substances that have enabled a worthwhile work of the canine species, which had not been overshadowed by any other species.

However, recent studies by a group of researchers suggest that ants could be trained and would be effective in detecting some types of cancer in humans.

It has been shown that a certain species of ant can be quickly trained to detect cancer cells with an accuracy equal to that seen in other animals with astonishing biosensing capabilities, such as dogs.

Dogs have long been used to track drugs, explosives, people, money, etc. They have recently applied their impressive olfactory ability to detect diseases, such as cancer, tuberculosis or even COVID-19.

The task of training and maintaining a dog of these characteristics is not fast or cheap.

The period of training a dog for detection purposes can last up to one year, so research based on this methodology has shifted to the use of other species, such as mice, bees, and even ants.

On these insects, a recent study has shown that a particular species of ant is capable of capturing certain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and can be trained to generate some manifestation that clearly communicates it to humans.

Meanwhile, in previous studies, they found that different types of cancer have their own VOCs and can be identified by them.

The proposal put forward by the scientists was based on trying to determine whether these ants could identify these VOCs and give clear signs of them, thus being able to train them to detect cancer cells.

The tests focused on breast cancer, and ants could quickly be taught to effectively differentiate cancer cells from non-cancerous cells with an accuracy similar to that seen in dogs.

The truth is that, as scientists were able to determine, ants outperform dogs, in some respects, since they need a much shorter training time. They can be trained in 30 minutes, while dogs need between 6 and 12 months of a dog. Even beyond their training, their maintenance also has a lower cost

Ants would therefore represent a rapid, efficient and inexpensive identification tool for the detection of volatile organic compounds of cancer cells.

This tested protocol for the detection of cancer could also be adapted to other complex tasks, among which methodologies similar to the detection of narcotics; explosives; or even other diseases can be enumerated.

In any case, science also raises the need to solve some indispensable topics when it comes to being able to massively apply this method of detection.

Among some of the points that are analyzed by scientists is the need for further work to catalog and validate specific VOC profiles for certain types of cancer.

In addition, it is not yet clear what the methodology of ant communication would be like to report on the detection of elements in the real world, beyond the fact that they have already done so in the identification of specific samples in a laboratory.

*Prof. Dr. Juan Enrique Romero @drromerook is a veterinary physician. Specialist in University Education. Master's Degree in Psychoimmunoneuroendocrinology. Former Director of the Small Animal School Hospital (UNLPAM). University Professor at several Argentine universities. International lecturer.

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