Cynthia Otto: Sniffing out diseases

Humans have long taken advantage of dogs' superior sense of smell. The 300 million scent receptors in a dog's nose are routinely used to detect bombs, drugs, firearms and people. But dogs are now being used experimentally to sniff out human disease. Cynthia Otto, a veterinarian and director of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, spoke to Nature about how sniffer dogs could help in improving medical diagnostics.

Automated summary

Dogs' superior sense of smell, with 300 million scent receptors in their noses, has long been utilized to detect various items. Recently, dogs are being experimentally used to sniff out human diseases, offering potential improvements in medical diagnostics.