A Service of UA Little Rock
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
KLRE is experiencing technical issues that may last a couple of days. Web streaming of KLRE is unaffected. We appreciate your patience as we are actively working to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.

Pigeons Identify Cancerous Tissues On Medical Images, Study Says

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. Researchers have given pigeons a new message to deliver - yes or no - is human tissue healthy or cancerous? A new study finds pigeons can be trained to spot cancerous breast tissue on X-rays and slides and choose which it is by pecking colored buttons. Researchers at UC Davis Medical Center say a single bird is good, but gathering results from lots of pigeons, flock-sourcing, brings the accuracy up to 90 percent. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.