In a separate experiment, Saha’s team collected air lingering above lung cells grown in the lab. The bees could successfully tell the difference between air samples taken near healthy cells and those gathered near cells of two cancer types: small-cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

— Read more in Honeybees can “smell” lung cancer at ScienceNews.

Unlike other insects, migratory locusts have over 2,000 glomeruli in their antennal lobe, compared to 20-300 in most insects. This distinctive feature enables complex odor processing in the locusts, crucial for their behavior and swarming.

— Read more in Locusts have brains built for complex odor processing at Earth.com.

The study revealed that dogs can learn to identify concentrations of eucalyptus hydrolate that are clearly below the detection threshold of sophisticated analytical instruments used today. The concentrations were also far below previously reported levels.

— Read more in Scent detection dogs discern odor molecules better than previously thought at Phys.org.

Insects such as fruit flies, on the other hand, have a mere 100,000 neurons to work with. Yet their survival is dependent upon their ability to decipher the meaning of complex odor mixtures around them to locate food, seek potential mates and avoid predators. Scientists have pondered how insects are able to smell, or extract information from odors, with a much smaller olfactory sensory system compared with mammals.

— Read more in Detecting Odors on the Edge: Researchers Decipher How Insects Smell More with Less at UC San Diego.