Black ants can smell cancer-related chemicals in urine. Photo: File
Berlin: We have not been able to control the monster of cancer so far, but the speed of the disease can be slowed down with its timely identification. It is now known that ants can detect cancer by smelling human urine with their extraordinary ability to smell.
A report published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences states that cancer adds a variety of odors to urine that ants can smell. This research has been done by experts from the Max Planck Institute of Ecology, a famous institution in Germany.
Large organisms such as insects or mammals use their sense of smell to find food, warn of predators or find their mate.
Cancer cells release special chemicals called ‘volatile organic compounds’ (VOCs) and can be used to detect cancer. Ants have an uncanny ability to smell them.
The small black ant (Formica fuchaa) has the ability to learn on the one hand, and on the other hand, they also have a keen sense of smell. Then after training once, she remembers it for several days. That is why the experts decided to provide him with training.
Previously, it was found that ants can correctly remember specific smelling urine up to 9 times. Then 70 ants were trained. They smelled the urine of healthy and cancerous mice. After three periods of training, the ants began to correctly identify cancerous urine. After that, he demonstrated the same ability on humans.
This research has shown that common black ants have an extraordinary ability to detect cancer in urine, which can greatly help doctors.
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