Israeli scientists recently made a remarkable discovery: a mechanical nose that can “sniff” cancer at an early state. In lab studies, the device was successfully in 92% of cases. Once made available on the market it will greatly enhance healthy care because it is cheaper to employ than, say, an MRI and can detect cancer at an earlier stage than anything else currently available. Early detection naturally increases curability chances and the cost of treatment. It could, for instance, locate and identify the nature of a tumor.

“The preliminary results of this device indicate that it currently detects breast, colon and lung cancer. We hope that in the future it will be a routine screening for all cancers, thereby guaranteeing early treatment,” the lead scientist behind the device stated [I identify him below].

The medical breakthrough was developed at Israel’s Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

Israel is a nation with a rather advances medical and general IT sector. But what makes this invention so remarkable goes beyond its achievement, but that the team of scientists were lead by a Dr. Hossam Haick. Dr. Haick is an Arab-Israeli born in Nazareth.

Dr. Haick is a resident at the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute in the Technion’s Faculty of Chemical Engineering. He is more than just a scientist with a remarkable invention. He is one of Israel’s and the world’s greatest scientific mind.

Technology Review, an academic journal published by the Massachusetts Institution of Technology [M.I.T.], issues an annual list titled “TR35″ where it lists in its opinion the 35 top young scientists. Dr. Haick made the list.

But that’s not all...

“He is the first Israeli scientist to win the European Union’s Marie Curie Excellence Grant, and in March was honored by the president of France with the France-Israel Foundation Prize for Excellence in Science. Among his other academic honors are a Fulbright fellowship and inclusion on the European Union’s List of 300 Top Young Scientists.”

Dr. Haick is a testament to what the region can be, what Arab-Jewish relation can be if peace prevailed.