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Hyperpolarised carbon-13 imaging uses an injectable solution containing a 'labelled' form of the naturally occurring molecule pyruvate.

The pyruvate enters the cells of the body, and the scan shows the rate at which it is broken down -- or metabolised -- into a molecule called lactate.

Lactate is produced via pyruvate, which is located at the end of a metabolic pathway called glycolysis.

While studying this process, researchers saw that when basal cells transform into luminal cells, the way they process a molecule called pyruvate changes.

The team discovered that blocking a specific part of cell metabolism, called the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier, and adding a substance called lactate can change the cell behavior.