Can Dogs Detect the Next Pandemic Before It Begins? | Glen J. Golden | TED

Mechanical Nose: A New Frontier in Disease Detection

Concept of a Mechanical Nose

• The idea is to create a device similar to a smoke detector that can detect diseases by identifying specific odor profiles associated with infections.

• This mechanical nose would operate continuously, alerting individuals when viral traces are detected, ideally before symptoms appear or transmission occurs.

Importance of Early Detection

• Emphasizes the significance of early testing in controlling pandemics, as demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Highlights the challenges in testing large populations, such as chickens for avian influenza, where timely results are crucial to prevent widespread infection.

Challenges in Developing a Mechanical Nose

• Building an effective mechanical nose is complex due to the intricate nature of the olfactory system and its ability to detect numerous odors simultaneously.

• Research involves collaboration among biologists, chemists, engineers, and physicists focused on scent detection.

Learning from Nature: Dogs' Olfactory Abilities

• Dogs have been known for their ability to detect various diseases through changes in metabolic processes rather than directly smelling the disease itself.

• The training process for dogs involves positive reinforcement when they identify specific scents related to conditions like diabetes.

Expanding Detection Capabilities

• The speaker expresses optimism about training animals on a larger scale to sniff out infectious diseases effectively.

• Personal background shared; transitioned from music career after personal tragedy into scientific research focusing on animal olfaction.

Research Journey and Innovations

Initial Ideas and Experiments

• After experiencing loss, the speaker became involved in dog training for detecting infections but faced practical challenges in hospital settings.

• Collaboration with researchers at Monell Chemical Senses Center led to exploring alternative biodetectors beyond dogs.

Exploring Ferrets as Biodetectors

• Research shifted towards using ferrets due to their interactive behavior with humans and potential for scent detection.

• Eight young ferrets were trained using chemical samples mimicking infected ducks versus non-infected ones.

Training Successes and Future Applications

• Ferrets achieved 90% accuracy in identifying sick duck chemical samples during lab tests.

Detection of Infectious Diseases Using Animals

Ferrets in Disease Detection

• The experiment involved ferrets trained to detect positive samples among negative ones, with a success rate of 79%.

• Ferrets could identify odor changes a day before and after traditional medical tests, showcasing their sensitivity.

Transition to Dogs for Practical Applications

• Due to ferrets' distractions in chaotic environments, the next step was training dogs for disease detection.

• Various dog breeds were trained to detect Avian influenza virus on chicken farms, effectively identifying infected birds.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Research

• The focus shifted to chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal illness affecting deer and similar species.

• CWD is caused by misfolded proteins that accumulate in the nervous system, leading to severe brain damage.

Dog Training for CWD Detection

• Dogs were trained using fecal samples from CWD-infected deer, achieving 94% accuracy in lab settings and 80% accuracy in field conditions despite distractions.

• Trained dogs can be deployed at hunter check-in stations and live deer farms to prevent consumption of infected meat.

Implications of Animal Detection Methods

• Research indicates that animals like dogs, ferrets, and rats can detect infectious diseases more quickly than traditional methods.

• Faster detection leads to quicker eradication efforts; ongoing research aims toward developing mechanical noses for pathogen detection.