Could bees detect cancer? We usually tend to avoid bees, being afraid go getting stung. But could bees be man's new best friend?

New research made by from Inscentinel, a UK-based firm specializing in insect research, suggests that honey bees can be trained to detect certain early-stage cancers in humans, thanks to their developed sense of smell.

Indeed with the glass device created by Susana Soares, a Portuguese designer, we could diagnose cancer using honey bees and a patient's breath.

bees detect cancer
Bees detect cancer device

The glass object has two enclosures: a small chamber that the patient breathes into and a larger chamber where trained bees are kept. If the bees detect the odor they where trained to pinpoint - in this case that of disease biomarkers - they'll rush into the smaller chamber where the breath is.

Even thought bees and wasps have already been trained to detect bombs, this technique has not been extensively tested by health officials yet.

In a few years, bees could be a very efficient and quick way to detect early diseases!

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