By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    An Expert’s Guide To Building and Improving Endurance
    June 30, 2022
    medical assistants
    What Do Medical Assistants Do On a Day to Day Basis?
    April 5, 2022
    superfoods to help with prostate health
    10 Healthy Foods That Can Help Protect Your Prostate
    August 29, 2022
    Latest News
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    pfizer and clinical data transparency
    Pfizer to Expand Clinical Trial Data Access, Takes Step Toward Transparency
    December 6, 2013
    Improving Healthcare Services And Management Through Tech Integration
    June 9, 2020
    obamacare and the uninsured
    Why Hospitals Are Still Gouging the Uninsured
    January 7, 2014
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: How Can AI Help in the Fight Against Cancer?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Technology > Medical Innovations > How Can AI Help in the Fight Against Cancer?
Medical InnovationsSpecialtiesTechnology

How Can AI Help in the Fight Against Cancer?

Daniel Matthews
Daniel Matthews
Share
7 Min Read
SHARE

The image of a low-flying airplane dusting crops with herbicide is, for many, a dreamy image of the past, of long road trips through never-ending, hazy fields of grain. For those suffering from non-Hodgkin?s Lymphoma (NHL, a deadly form of cancer that starts in the lymphatic system), the idea of crop-dusting, and any of the images associated with it, is more of a nightmare than anything else. You?ve probably heard of Roundup. It?s a popular herbicide, a weed killer manufactured by Monsanto, and it contains the chemical glyphosate. There?s a lot of debate over whether glyphosate causes cancer. But, for the many plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit against Monsanto, the debate is over. They point to the following as evidence of Roundup?s health hazards:

Contents
AI vs. HerbicidesAI vs. AsbestosAI and Wearable Devices
  • The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified Roundup as a ?likely carcinogen? in 2015
  • The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health published a study linking glyphosate to NHL

Plaintiffs claim Monsanto knew the IARC was going to announce its findings about Roundup months before the official announcement. They say Monsanto mounted a PR campaign to discredit the findings and ignored the health hazards of glyphosate in order to continue making a profit on Roundup. The lawsuits against Monsanto and the debate over whether Roundup causes cancer wouldn?t be happening if farmers had a different way to get rid of weeds. What if huge farms could kill weeds without using potentially hazardous chemicals? That?s where AI comes in.

AI vs. Herbicides

Bosch is a German company that normally makes power tools and car parts. Now, the company is making BoniRob, a self-driving robot that uses machine learning to eradicate weeds. Machine learning is the same type of AI protocol Google?s self-driving car uses to identify objects on the road. Fortunately, killing weeds is less complicated than navigating in traffic. Bosch?s BoniRob starts with images of weeds and non-weeds and uses machine learning to identify and destroy weeds in a farmer?s field. Machine learning allows it to get better as it goes along. The bot kills weeds incredibly fast by stamping them down. In one test, it was able to get rid of 90 percent of the weeds in a carrot patch. On one hand, an AI solution to weeds would hurt Monsanto?s profits. On the other, it would help farmers, who wouldn?t have to fork out the cash for manual labor to apply herbicides. AI crop intelligence could help increase crop yields, which would help with food production. Increased food supply could go towards feeding malnourished children. And most importantly, doing away with herbicides such as Roundup could help us figure out if chemicals like glyphosate contribute to cancers such as NHL. In a similar way, AI could assist with another cancer-causing agent: asbestos.

AI vs. Asbestos

In Australia, a company called Frontier Microscopy has invented an asbestos-detecting bot called Marvin. Marvin uses a microscope to inspect 100 images in a minute, uploading them to machine learning software, which detects traces of asbestos. The whole process takes less than two minutes?13 fewer minutes than the current manual detection process?and is more reliable than human detection. One group of people it could help protect is construction workers, who can be easily exposed to asbestos during demolition projects. People are also likely to be exposed to asbestos when earthquakes, hurricanes, and other disasters damage old buildings. Asbestos is a flame-retardant insulation material. As far back as the 1930s, asbestos has been linked to mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a respiratory cancer you can get from inhaling loose particles of asbestos as they float in the air. A company called Johns-Manville made a great deal of money mining and selling asbestos in the 1900s, even though the company knew asbestos was causing cancer. As early as 1918, the US government admitted asbestos could be harmful to workers. In 1951, Johns-Manville altered a report and suppressed evidence that exposure to asbestos causes mesothelioma. Thanks to slow, or absolutely no action on the part of governments and companies, asbestos is in buildings all over the world. In this case, unlike glyphosate, there?s no debate as to whether asbestos causes cancer. AI could prove invaluable when it comes to detecting asbestos 100 percent of the time in all sorts of structures. In turn, fewer people would come down with mesothelioma in the future.

More Read

Image
Mobile Health Around the Globe: Acquapura Tests Drinking Water Purity
Coronary Stents Show Clinical and Economic Staying Power
Insurance Shopping Tools Online: Open Enrollment Nears
USPSTF Pushes Back on Hepatitis C Virus Mass Screening.
J and J DePuy Hip Recall Methodologies Touching on Patient Privacy

AI and Wearable Devices

Finally, AI could play an integral role in preventative medicine through wearable devices and actionable data. Wearables ?could allow doctors to monitor the health of patients in their own homes, or provide a greater level of detail to improve diagnosis and decision-making,? says Vijay Sivaraman, an associate professor at the University of New South Wales. This applies to diagnoses of various forms of cancer. Researchers could also use data from wearables to find out more about which lifestyle choices help or hinder cancer patients in recovery. As AI technology continues to improve, it will be able help detect cancer-causing agents, and it will be able to give us better information on environmental factors that exacerbate or improve cancer symptoms. AI could even help in analyses of cancer-causing cells, as well as genomic research. In the future, AI may very well be cancer?s worst enemy.

TAGGED:AIAI in healthcareasbestosbig datacancerglyphosateMonsantoRoundupwearable tech
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share
By Daniel Matthews
Daniel Matthews is a freelance writer who specializes in tech, business, and finance. You can find him on Twitter @danielmatthews0.

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025
Telemedicine Apps
Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
Health
July 20, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
July 17, 2025
paramedics in surgical gloves and masks
How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
Health care
July 16, 2025

You Might also Like

best sofas for back support
OrthopaedicsSpecialties

Best Sofas for Back Support & Relief from Bad Back Pain

August 18, 2021
SpecialtiesWellness

8 Reasons Why Travel Is The Secret To A Healthy Life

February 4, 2019
importance of getting a dental filling
Dental health

How Often Should You Go to the Dentist in Richmond, VA?

August 1, 2022

Patient-Centered Approach to Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Planning (podcast)

September 22, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?