00:03When you imagine a cancer screening, your mind likely conjures images of blood tests
00:07and high-tech equipment. But this biotech firm in Japan, Hirotsu Bioscience, has developed the
00:13first early pancreatic cancer test using these tiny worms. They're calling the test N-nose,
00:18and it involves a urine sample in tiny 1-millimeter long worms called C. elegans,
00:23a species of nematodes. The worm's sense of smell is highly acute, better than even those
00:27of canines, and they're attracted to pancreatic cancer cells. The company's founder and chief
00:32executive, Takaki Hirotsu, says it's all about discovering trace amounts of cancer,
00:37something man-made tests and technology are still a long way away from. And since January 2020,
00:42these tests have been used on samples taken from around 250,000 people, and the tiny worms have
00:47discovered high-risk pancreatic cancer readings in 5-6% of those tests. Their most recent tests
00:53involve genetically altered nematodes that move away from cancer cells, which in combination
00:57with the ones that swim towards cancer should provide an even better and more accurate test,
01:02hopefully allowing for even earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer,
01:05an illness that is notoriously difficult to detect.
