Cancer Detecting Worms

Worms are drawn to the smell of lung cancer cells. Scientists created a chip with e little cancer detecting worms in it, and ound that they were 70 % effective at sniffing out cancer cells. To test the toxicity of chemical, scientists devised a method that starts with mixing the chemical with cow feces. Then they added ten eggs from this organism to the mix, and then they waited for the eggs to hatch. So itis a toxicity test. Was it the worm or not?

Transcript

chevron_right

Play full episode

chevron_right

Transcript

Episode notes

SciShow Tangents is on YouTube! Go to www.youtube.com/scishowtangents to check out this episode with the added bonus of seeing our faces!

From big, slimy earthworms to microscopic C. elegans, worms are everywhere... or are they? It turns out, as is often the case on Tangents, that everything you thought you knew about worms is a lie, up to and including their very existence!

Head to www.patreon.com/SciShowTangents to find out how you can help support SciShow Tangents, and see all the cool perks you’ll get in return, like bonus episodes and a monthly newsletter!

And go to https://store.dftba.com/collections/scishow-tangents to buy your very own, genuine SciShow Tangents sticker!

A big thank you to Patreon subscribers Garth Riley and Tom Mosner for helping to make the show possible!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

[Trivia Question]

Dave the longest earthworm

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/nov/04/uk-biggest-worm-record-breaking-in-cheshire

[Fact Off]

Geosmin smells like danger to C. elegans

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220405143530.htm

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35323022/

Ice worms in glaciers