A Scottish woman named Joy Milne made headlines in 2015 for an unusual talent: her ability to sniff out people afflicted with Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative illness that is estimated to affect nearly a million people in the U.S. alone. Since then a group of scientists in the U.K. has been working with Milne to pinpoint the molecules that give Parkinson’s its distinct olfactory signature. The team has now zeroed in on a set of molecules specific to the disease—and has created a simple skin-swab-based test to detect them.
— Read more in A Supersmeller Can Detect the Scent of Parkinson’s, Leading to an Experimental Test for the Illness at Scientific American.
Ok this is AMAZING. I hope this kind of technology can be developed for more and more diseases 🙂
It really is amazing. I remember this story from years back, had no idea they had gotten this far along.