• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Sunday, June 4, 2023
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Bioengineering

The scent of cancer

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
January 26, 2014
in Bioengineering
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Researchers of the University of Konstanz the first to detect cancer cells using the olfactory senses of fruit flies

The scent of cancer

A research unit in an international cooperation project, led by the Konstanz-based neurobiologist and zoologist Professor Dr. Giovanni Galizia, has been the first to demonstrate that fruit flies are able to distinguish cancer cells from healthy cells via their olfactory sense. In an article, published on 6 January in the international scientific journal “Scientific Report” by the Nature Publishing Group, the researchers of the University of Konstanz and the University La Sapienza in Rome, Italy, describe how characteristic patterns in the olfactory receptors of transgenic Drosophilae can be recorded when activated by scent. Not only could a clear distinction be made between healthy cells and cancer cells; moreover, groupings could be identified among the different cancer cells.

“What really is new and spectacular about this result is the combination of objective, specific and quantifiable laboratory results and the extremely high sensitivity of a living being that cannot be matched by electronic noses or gas chromatography”, explains Giovanni Galizia. Natural olfactory systems are better suited to detecting the very small differences in scent between healthy cells and cancer cells. This fact has already been shown in experiments with dogs; however, these results are not objectifiable and are thus not applicable for a systematic medical diagnosis.

The researchers from Konstanz and Rome used the fact that single odourant molecules dock to the receptor neurons of the flies’ antenna and thus activate the neurons. In an imaging technique developed by the researchers, the different odourant molecules of the respective scent samples create different patterns of activated neurons, which fluoresce under the microscope when active, thanks to a genetic modification. In the experiment five different types of breast cancer cell lines were analysed, compared to healthy cells and clearly divergent patterns were generated. “As not only cancer cells can be distinguished from healthy cells, but also subgroups were discernible within the cancer cells, it seems that even different types of breast cancer cells can be differentiated via the antenna of Drosophila”, explains Alja Lüdke, member of the research unit and researcher at the University of Konstanz.

The results of the interdisciplinary research unit, consisting of biologists and engineers from the field of electronic engineering, are a fundamental groundwork for cancer diagnosis: “The high sensitivity of the natural olfactory receptors, paired with the quickness with which we can generate these test results, might lead to the development of a cheap, fast and highly-efficient pre-screening that can detect cancer cells well before we can discover them with the present diagnostic imaging techniques”, stresses Giovanni Galizia.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Konstanz

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Why is the first Turkish bioengineering promotion website, Biyomuhendislik.com, so important?

February 4, 2023
blank

Robo-fish

September 19, 2016

Mice born from ‘tricked’ eggs

September 17, 2016

UCLA researchers use stem cells to grow 3-D lung-in-a-dish

September 16, 2016
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • plants

    Plants remove cancer causing toxins from air

    40 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • Element creation in the lab deepens understanding of surface explosions on neutron stars

    36 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9
  • Deep sea surveys detect over five thousand new species in future mining hotspot

    35 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9
  • How life and geology worked together to forge Earth’s nutrient rich crust

    35 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Phase 3 SWOG Cancer Research Network trial, led by a City of Hope researcher, demonstrates one-year progression-free survival in 94% of patients with Stage 3 or 4 classic Hodgkin lymphoma who received a checkpoint inhibitor combined with chemotherapy

The promise of novel FolRα-targeting antibody drug conjugate in recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer

Carbon-based stimuli-responsive nanomaterials: classification and application

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 50 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In