Detecting cancer with a fruit flie’s antenna.
This is the title of a recently published scientific article showing that the activity pattern of a fruit flie’s antenna differs upon exposure to the odour of cancer versus control cells. In simple words, fruit flies can discriminate between healthy and non-healthy. This is fascinating in the sense that these little flies have never encountered human cancer cells in their ephemeral lives before. But they are still are able to “know” that cancer cells smell different, even though they don’t necessarily “know” what this means. So please think about this the next time you’re getting annoyed in your kitchen because YOU forgot partially molded fruits on the table. A plea for genius little antennae.
Die Natur versteht keinen Spaß, sie ist immer wahr, immer ernst, immer strenge, sie hat immer recht, und die Fehler und Irrtümer sind immer des Menschen.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe