Float like a butterfly, sniff out cancer like a bee?
Honeybees can detect the subtle scents of lung cancer in the lab — and even the faint aroma of disease that can waft from a patient’s breath.
Inspired by the insects’ exquisite olfactory abilities, scientists hooked the brains of living bees up to electrodes, passed different scents under the insects’ antennae and then recorded their brain signals.
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.