Ants sniff out cancer!

✚ A COMMON ant species has the ability to sniff out cancer, potentially making the bugs a less invasive alternative for diagnosis, experts say. A team at the French National Center for Scientific Research found Formica fusca ants could be trained more quickly than dogs to correctly identify the condition by sensing the volatile organic compounds emitted by diseased human cells.

The researchers call the insects a “fast, efficient, inexpensive and highly discriminant detection tool,” but warn more clinical tests are needed.