Cancer cells and non-cancer cells differ in metabolism and emit distinct volatile compounds, allowing them to be distinguished by their scent. Insect odorant receptors are excellent chemosensors with high sensitivity and a broad receptive range. Putting these two ideas together, collaborating scientists from University of Konstanz (Germany) and University of Rome (Italy) investigated the potentialContinueContinue reading “Cancer detection by fruit fly olfaction”
Tag Archives: olfaction
How do fruit flies smell?
Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) rely heavily on their sense of smell, and a large portion of their brain is dedicated to processing olfactory information. Recently, a group directed by Grace Boekhoff-Falk (University of Wisconsin, Madison) determined that the gene distal-less (dll) is essential for correct development of this olfactory system in fruit flies (Proc. Natl.ContinueContinue reading “How do fruit flies smell?”
Identifying the sweet smell of success
Olfaction—the sense of smell—may be the oldest and least well understood of the five senses. It alerts us to danger, food and other important matters and is closely linked with brain systems involved in emotion, mood, memory, learning and behavior. Stated in simple terms, our understanding of olfaction is as follows: an odorant activates neuronsContinueContinue reading “Identifying the sweet smell of success”
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