if ants Our inspiration to create new machines, autonomous robots or Algorithms to guide usThey also have a lot to teach us about health.
Luke Will passes A bacteriologist, he has been studying ants for more than 50 years, and for him, there is no question that ants are a disease-caring insect.
When the ants are healed
Ants carry metaplural glands on the thorax. They secrete substances that allow these insects to get rid of pathogenic bacteria or fungi. These glands are useful for them to heal themselves, but also for their larvae. Regularly, by licking them, they will protect the kids from possible infection.
The way the ants die is also pretty cool. In small colonies, “sick ants go out on their own to die outside, in order to keep the infection at bay,” Luc Basera explains. If an ant dies within a large colony, it is quickly evacuated, in order to preserve the health of the community, by preventing the spread of bacteria from the corpse.
Finally, today we find fragments of resin in ant nests. This resin is an excellent protectant for the bronchial tubes and is used by ants to prevent disease. They know how to use nature in prevention. This is why it is so important to conserve nature and biodiversity, according to Luc Passera: “We don’t know what we will need tomorrow.”
When ants heal us
Garden ants, which can be recognized by their black color, can save our lives. To live in society, ants recognize each other by smell. So we taught ants to be attracted to such and such a scent, in this case by stromal cells whose odors are not or hardly perceptible to humans.
After 30 minutes of training, facing two pots, the ants will circle the ones containing cancer cells. An exercise already tested with dogs, for example, but which takes much more time. “We’re learning day by day and we don’t yet know how much biodiversity can help us,” Luc Passera explains.
