Ants Can Be Trained to Detect Cancer

Previous studies showed that ants can hone in on specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and types of cancer can be identified by their unique VOCs. The team found that in as little as three training sessions, they were able to effectively teach the ants to differentiate between cancerous cells and non-cancerous cells with the same accuracy as dogs. The training took just 30 minutes, compared to 6-12 months for dogs, suggesting ants could be a more cost-effective option. It’s worth noting that the study was just for proof-of-concept, and we’re still a long way away from having real life ant pathologists.