14 DAY TRIAL // A new scientific study has uncovered an interesting fact about dogs. It would appear that they are capable of sniffing out the difference in odor between identical (monozygotic) twins. Thus far, this was thought to be impossible.
On the other hand, dogs are known for being capable of detecting epileptic seizures before they occur, as well as dangerous blood insulin levels in diabetics. Some studies even suggest that canines can sniff out the smell of bladder, breast and prostate cancer cells, among other types of tumors.
As such, it should come as no surprise that they can also smell the very subtle differences between the smells of identical twins. This line of research is a lot older than people might be tempted to believe.
Experts have been trying to get dogs to tell twins apart for more than 50 years now, but thus far most investigations have ended without offering conclusive proofs one way or the other. The new study is one of the first to tip the scales in one of two directions.
Experts in the Czech Republic say that the different results other investigations produced might be explained by the various levels of training each of the dogs used in those researches got before they were put to the test.
The team says that using highly-trained police dogs proved the most effective in teasing out the minute scent differences. During the study, experts swabbed the bellies of identical twins (boyes aged 5 and girls aged 7). Two pairs of fraternal twins were also included.
German shepherds were then allowed to smell the swabs, and were put in a room where they have seven jars containing different smells, including the one they were searching for. The canines had to find the jar that had the same scent they had sniffed.
Each of the 10 dogs used in the research was put through 12 trials. All of them had a 100 percent accuracy rate every single time. It's interesting to point out that genetic testing cannot tease identical twins apart, where dogs' extremely sensitive noses can.
“Dogs can discriminate the odor of identical twins if well-trained,” explains ethologist and science team member Luděk Bartoš, quoted by LiveScience. The expert based at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague.
Details of the new research were published in the June 15 online issue of the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE, which is edited by the Public Library of Science.