THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
October 5, 2023 at 07:00 JST
Haru, left, and Niko will be trained to sniff out diseases. (Provided by Gunma Prefecture)
MAEBASHI--Two Labrador Retrievers named Niko and Haru will be trained to sniff out health problems in humans under an initiative by Gunman Prefecture to be the first local authority in the world to put the research into practical use.
The prefectural government, which is pumping up to 124 million yen ($830,000) into the project in three years, also announced the names of the two researchers who will lead the endeavor.
Hirokazu Murakami, a professor of medicine at the medical technology department of Gunma University of Health and Welfare, is expected to see if dogs can sniff out blood cancer or other rare types of carcinoma while Lee Seung-woo, a chemistry professor at the Environmental Engineering Faculty of the University of Kita-Kyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, will seek a practical way to detect tumors in the early stages of development.
“We will be contributing to the realization of a society where people can live better with pets,” said Gunma Governor Ichita Yamamoto at a news conference on Sept. 1.
The local government decided in June to develop sickness-detection canines, working like drug-sniffing dogs, to determine whether individuals are ill based on the smell of their exhaled air and urine.
It then started soliciting applicants for the two positions by dangling up to 30 million yen each for their research studies.
Only Murakami and Lee applied. The prefectural government decided to take them on after detailed discussions on their research plans.
The white female Labrador Retriever is named Niko. She is being joined by a male with black fur called Haru. They were born in May this year.
Their names were chosen from suggestions offered by the public.
Details on things like how Niko and Haru are growing up will be shared through specialized accounts on TikTok and Instagram, prefectural officials said.
Two academics from Finland recently visited Japan to exchange opinions with dog trainers over how to nurture hounds in various fields of research. Finland is recognized for its research in illnesses using sickness-sniffing dogs.
(This article was written by Sakura Kawamura and Tomoko Takaki.)
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