Bart Weetjens: How I taught rats to sniff out land mines

Translator: Adi Maslo Reviewer: Damjan Kovač

I'm here today to share with you

Došao sam da sa vama podjelim

an extraordinary journey -

izuzetno iskustvo --

extraordinarily rewarding journey, actually -

izuzetno bogato iskustvo, ustvari --

which brought me into

preko kojeg sam došao do

training rats

treniranja pacova

to save human lives

za spašavanje ljudskih života

by detecting landmines

time što pronalaze mine

and tuberculosis.

i tuberkulozu.

As a child, I had two passions.

Kao dijete sam imao dvije strasti.

One was a passion for rodents.

Jedna je bila strast za glodarima.

I had all kinds of rats,

Imao sam više vrsta pacova,

mice, hamsters,

miševa, hrčaka,

gerbils, squirrels.

gerbila (skočimiš), vjeverica.

You name it, I bred it, and I sold them to pet shops.

Date mu ime, uzgojite ga, i prodate - kao što sam ja uradio.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I also had a passion for Africa.

I Afrika je bila moja strast.

Growing up in a multicultural environment,

Kako sam odrastao u multikulturnom okruženju,

we had African students in the house,

kući su me posjećivali afrički studenti

and I learned about their stories,

i ja sam učio o njihovim pričama

so different backgrounds,

i njihovom različitom porijeklu,

dependency on imported know-how,

ovisnosti o uvoznom znanju,

goods, services,

dobrima, uslugama,

exuberant cultural diversity.

o bogatim kulturnim razlikama.

Africa was truly fascinating for me.

Afrika me istinski fascinirala.

I became an industrial engineer,

Postao sam inženjer,

engineer in product development,

inženjer za razvoj proizvoda.

and I focused on appropriate detection technologies,

Fokusirao sam se na minimalističku tehnologiju za detekciju,

actually the first appropriate technologies

zapravo prvu takvu

for developing countries.

za zemlje u razvoju.

I started working in the industry,

Počeo sam raditi u toj industriji

but I wasn't really happy to contribute

ali nisam bio sretan što

to a material consumer society

doprinosim materijalističkom društvu

in a linear, extracting

na linearan, izrabljivački

and manufacturing mode.

i proizvodni način.

I quit my job to focus on the real world problem:

Dao sam otkaz kako bih se posvetio stvarnom svjetskom problemu:

landmines.

minama.

We're talking '95 now.

Govorimo o '95. godini.

Princess Diana is announcing on TV

Princeza Diana na televiziji najavljuje

that landmines form a structural barrier

da mine čine prepreku

to any development, which is really true.

bilo kakvom razvoju, što je uistinu tako.

As long as these devices are there,

Dok god su te naprave tu

or there is suspicion of landmines,

ili postoji sumnja o postojanju mina,

you can't really enter into the land.

ne možete ući na to tlo.

Actually, there was an appeal worldwide

Postojala je molba

for new detectors

za novim detektorima

sustainable in the environments

u održivim okolinama

where they're needed to produce,

gdje su potrebni za proizvodnju,

which is mainly in the developing world.

što je većim dijelom u zemljama u razvoju.

We chose rats.

Mi smo izabrali pacove.

Why would you choose rats?

Zašto biste izabrali pacove?

Because, aren't they vermin?

Jer su štetočini?

Well, actually rats are,

Pacovi su, ustvari,

in contrary to what most people think about them,

za razliku od onoga što većina misli o njima,

rats are highly sociable creatures.

druželjubiva stvorenja.

And actually, our product -- what you see here.

I, ustvari, naš proizvod - kao što možete vidjeti.

There's a target somewhere here.

Tu negdje postoji meta.

You see an operator, a trained African

Vidite operatera, obučenog afrikanca

with his rats in front

sa svojim pacovima ispred

who actually are left and right.

koji su ustvari s lijeva i desna.

There, the animal finds a mine.

Vidite, životinja je našla minu.

It scratches on the soil.

Grebe po površini, i

And the animal comes back for a food reward.

vraća se po hranu, njegovu nagradu.

Very, very simple.

Veoma, veoma jednostavno.

Very sustainable in this environment.

Veoma održivo u ovoj okolini.

Here, the animal gets its food reward.

Vidite, pacov dobija svoju nagradu.

And that's how it works.

I ovako sve funkcioniše.

Very, very simple.

Krajnje jednostavno.

Now why would you use rats?

Ali, zašto biste koristili pacove?

Rats have been used since the '50s last century,

Oni se koriste već od 50-ih godina prošlog stoljeća,

in all kinds of experiments.

u eksperimentima svih vrsta.

Rats have more genetic material

Pacovi imaju više genetskog materijala

allocated to olfaction

posvećenog čulu mirisa

than any other mammal species.

nego ijedna vrsta sisara.

They're extremely sensitive to smell.

Krajnje su osjetljivi na miris.

Moreover, they have the mechanisms to map all these smells

Štaviše, u mogućnosti su locirati te mirise

and to communicate about it.

i komunicirati putem njih.

Now how do we communicate with rats?

Ali, kako mi komuniciramo s pacovima?

Well don't talk rat,

Pa, mi ne pričamo njihov jezik

but we have a clicker,

ali imamo kliker,

a standard method for animal training,

standardni metod dresiranja životinja.

which you see there.

Vidite to ovdje.

A clicker, which makes a particular sound

Kliker koji proizvodi određeni zvuk

with which you can reinforce particular behaviors.

kojim možete pojačati određene sheme ponašanja.

First of all, we associate the click sound with a food reward,

Prije svega, mi povežemo zvuk klika sa nagradom,

which is smashed banana and peanuts together in a syringe.

što je gnječena banana i kikiriki u šprici.

Once the animal knows click, food,

Onda kada životinja shvati niz klik, hrana,

click, food, click, food --

klik, hrana, klik, hrana --

so click is food --

da klik znači hranu --

we bring it in a cage with a hole,

mi je uvedemo u kavez sa rupom

and actually the animal learns

gdje životinja nauči

to stick the nose in the hole

da stavi svoj nos u rupu

under which a target scent is placed,

ispod koje je smješten miris mete.

and to do that for five seconds --

On to radi pet sekundi --

five seconds, which is long for a rat.

pet sekundi, što je dugo za jednog pacova.

Once the animal knows this, we make the task a bit more difficult.

Kad životinja nauči ovo, zadatak učinimo malo težim.

It learns how to find the target smell

Pacov nauči da pronađe miris mete

in a cage with several holes, up to 10 holes.

u kavezu sa više rupa -- do 10 rupa.

Then the animal learns

Onda životinja nauči

to walk on a leash in the open

da hoda na uzici na otvorenom

and find targets.

i da pronalazi mete.

In the next step, animals learn

Sljedeći korak je da životinja nauči

to find real mines in real minefields.

da pronađe stvarne mine u stvarnim minskim poljima.

They are tested and accredited

One se testiraju i akreditiraju

according to International Mine Action Standards,

prema Međunarodnom Standardu za Mine,

just like dogs have to pass a test.

kao što psi moraju položiti test.

This consists of 400 square meters.

Veličina polja je 400 kvadratnih metara

There's a number of mines

gdje je nekoliko mina

placed blindly,

postavljeno nasumično

and the team of trainer and their rat

a tim, trener i njegov pacov,

have to find all the targets.

mora naći sve mete.

If the animal does that, it gets a license

Ukoliko životinja ovo uspije, dobija licencu

as an accredited animal

čime se akredituje

to be operational in the field --

za rad na polju --

just like dogs, by the way.

baš kao psi,

Maybe one slight difference:

uz malu razliku:

we can train rats at a fifth of the price

pacovi se mogu izdresirati za peti dio cijene

of training the mining dog.

za koju se psi demineri dresiraju.

This is our team in Mozambique:

Ovo je naš tim u Mozambiku:

one Tanzanian trainer,

jedan tanzanijski trener

who transfers the skills

koji prenosi vještine

to these three Mozambican fellows.

ovoj trojici kolega iz Mozambika.

And you should see the pride in the eyes of these people.

I trebali biste vidjeti ponos u očima tih ljudi.

They have a skill,

Imaju vještinu

which makes them much less dependent

koja ih čini manje ovisnim

on foreign aid.

o stranoj pomoći.

Moreover, this small team

Štaviše, ovaj mali tim,

together with, of course, you need the heavy vehicles

pored teških vozila, treba

and the manual de-miners to follow-up.

i deminere da posao privedu kraju.

But with this small investment in a rat capacity,

Ovom malom investicijom u dresiranje pacova

we have demonstrated in Mozambique

u Mozambiku smo pokazali da

that we can reduce the cost-price per square meter

možemo smanjiti cijenu po kvadratnom metru

up to 60 percent

za 60 posto

of what is currently normal --

od onog što se trenutno ostvaruje.

two dollars per square meter, we do it at $1.18,

Sa dva dolara, troškove smanjujemo na 1,18

and we can still bring that price down.

i možemo još niže.

Question of scale.

Pitanje obima.

If you can bring in more rats,

Ako uključimo više pacova,

we can actually make the output even bigger.

možemo povećati učinkovitost.

We have a demonstration site in Mozambique.

U Mozambiku imamo mjesto za demonstraciju.

Eleven African governments

Jedanaest afričkih vlada

have seen that they can become less dependent

je uvidjelo da mogu postati manje ovisnim

by using this technology.

koristeći ovu tehnologiju.

They have signed the pact for peace

Oni su potpisali pakt o sigurnosti

and treaty in the Great Lakes region,

i stabilnosti u regiji Great Lakes (Velika Jezera).

and they endorse hero rats

Ove vlade podržavaju pacove-heroje

to clear their common borders of landmines.

kako bi se zajedničke granice očistile od mina.

But let me bring you to a very different problem.

Dopustite mi da vas upoznam sa potpuno drugačijim problemom.

And there's about 6,000 people last year

Oko 6.000 ljudi je prošle godine

that walked on a landmine,

nagazilo na mine,

but worldwide last year,

ali je u isto vrijeme u čitavom svijetu

almost 1.9 million died from tuberculosis

skoro 1,9 miliona ljudi umrlo od tubrkuloze

as a first cause of infection.

kao prvog uzroka infekcije -

Especially in Africa

naročito u Africi.

where T.B. and HIV are strongly linked,

Tamo su TBC i HIV snažno povezani

there is a huge common problem.

što čini veliki problem.

Microscopy, the standard WHO procedure,

Uobičajeni postupak Svjetske zdravstvene oraganizacije,

reaches from 40 to 60 percent reliability.

mikroskopija, dostiže pouzdanost od 40 do 60 posto.

In Tanzania -- the numbers don't lie --

U Tanzaniji se kod samo 45 posto ljudi

45 percent of people -- T.B. patients --

uspije dijagnosticirati TBC prije nego umru --

get diagnosed with T.B. before they die.

a brojevi ne lažu.

It means that, if you have T.B.,

To znači da, ako imate TBC

you have more chance that you won't be detected,

postoji veća mogućnost da vam se neće otkriti

but will just die from T.B. secondary infections and so on.

tako da ćete jednostavno umrijeti od sekundarnih posljedica TBCa.

And if, however,

Ako vam se ipak

you are detected very early, diagnosed early,

bolest dijagnosticira vrlo rano

treatment can start,

liječenje može početi --

and even in HIV-positives, it makes sense.

čak kod HIV pozitivnih ljudi to ima smisla.

You can actually cure T.B.,

Možete, ustvari, izliječiti TBC --

even in HIV-positives.

čak i HIV.

So in our common language, Dutch,

U našem jeziku, holandskom,

the name for T.B.

naziv za TBC

is "tering,"

je ''tering''

which, etymologically,

što se etimološki

refers to the smell of tar.

odnosi na miris katrana.

Already the old Chinese

Još su stari kinezi

and the Greek, Hippocrates,

i grci, Hipokrat,

have actually published,

objavili i dokumentovali

documented, that T.B. can be diagnosed

da se TBC može dijagnosticirati

based on the volatiles

na kratkotrajnim izlučevinama

exuding from patients.

koje pacijenti proizvode.

So what we did is we collected some samples --

Mi smo skupili uzorke

just as a way of testing --

iz bolnica --

from hospitals,

kao obično testiranje,

trained rats on them

dresirali pacove na njima

and see if this works,

da vidimo da li funkcioniše --

and wonder, well,

i uspjeli smo.

we can reach 89 percent sensitivity,

Možemo dostići 89 posto osjetiljivosti

86 percent specificity

i 86 posto specifičnosti

using multiple rats in a row.

koristeći više pacova zaredom.

This is how it works,

Ovako to funkcioniše,

and really, this is a generic technology.

i ovo je zapravo generička tehnologija.

We're talking now explosives, tuberculosis,

Ovdje govorimo o eksplozivima i tuberkulozi

but can you imagine,

ali, zamislite,

you can actually put anything under there.

možete staviti bilo šta ovdje ispod.

So how does it work?

Dakle, kako ovo radi?

You have a cassette with 10 samples.

Imate kasetu sa 10 uzoraka.

You put these 10 samples at once in the cage.

Stavite tih 10 uzoraka odjednom u kavez.

An animal only needs two hundredths of a second

Životinji treba tek dvjestoti dio sekunde

to discriminate the scent, so it goes extremely fast.

da prepozna miris -- ide, dakle, veoma brzo.

Here it's already at the third sample.

Ovdje je pacov već kod trećeg uzorka.

This is a positive sample.

Ovaj uzorak je pozitivan,

It gets a click sound and comes for the food reward.

nakon kog životinja čuje ''klik'' i dolazi po nagradu.

And by doing so, very fast,

Radeći ovo, veoma brzo

we can have like a second-line opinion

možemo doći do, neke vrste, drugogstepenog mišljenja

to see which patients are positive,

kako bi se utvrdilo koji su pacijenti pozitivni,

which are negative.

a koji negativni.

Just as an indication,

Poređenja radi,

whereas a microscopist can process

dok mikroskopist može provjeriti

40 samples in a day,

40 uzoraka na dan,

a rat can process

pacov može provjeriti

the same amount of samples

isti broj uzoraka

in seven minutes only.

za samo sedam minuta.

A cage like this --

U kavezu poput ovoga --

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

A cage like this -- provided that you have rats,

U kavezu poput ovoga, ako imate pacove,

and we have now currently

a mi trenutno imamo

25 tuberculosis rats --

25 pacova za TBC,

a cage like this, operating throughout the day,

možete provjeriti 1.680 uzoraka,

can process 1,680 samples.

radite li čitav dan.

Can you imagine the potential offspring applications --

Možete li zamisliti šta može potencijalno proizaći iz ovog?

environmental detection

Detekcija štetnih tvari

of pollutants in soils,

u zemlji.

customs applications,

Na carini,

detection of illicit goods in containers and so on.

za detekciju nelegalnih dobara u kontejnerima itd.

But let's stick first to tuberculosis.

Ali zadržimo se na tuberkulozi.

I just want to briefly highlight,

Želim vrlo kratko naglasiti --

the blue rods

plavi stupci

are the scores of microscopy only

su rezultati mikroskopa

at the five clinics in Dar es Salaam

na samo pet klinika u Dar es Salaamu

on a population of 500,000 people,

na populaciji od 500.000 ljudi

where 15,000 reported to get a test done.

gdje je testirano njih 15.000.

Microscopy for 1,800 patients.

Mikroskopija za 1.800 pacijenata.

And by just presenting the samples once more to the rats

A, time što smo uzorke ponovo dali pacovima

and looping those results back,

i ponovo razmotrili rezultate

we were able to increase case detection rates

povećali smo učinkovitost otkirvanja

by over 30 percent.

za preko 30 posto.

Throughout last year,

Tokom prošle godine --

we've been -- depending on which intervals you take --

ovisno od intervala koje uzimate --

we've been consistently

dosljedno smo povećavali

increasing case detection rates

broj otkrivenih uzoraka

in five hospitals in Dar es Salaam

u pet bolnica u Dar es Salaamu

between 30 and 40 percent.

između 30 i 40 posto.

So this is really considerable.

Ovo je, dakle, veoma značajno.

Knowing that a missed patient by microscopy

Znajući da jedna osoba koju mikroskopija ne otkrije

infects up to 15 people,

zarazi do 15 ljudi,

healthy people, per year,

zdravih ljudi, tokom jedne godine,

you can be sure

možete biti sigurni

that we have saved lots of lives.

da smo spasili mnogo života.

At least our hero rats have saved lots of lives.

Bar su to učinili naši pacovi-heroji.

The way forward for us

Sljedeći naš korak bi bio

is now to standardize this technology.

da standardiziramo ovu tehnologiju.

And there are simple things

Jednostavne stvari

like, for instance, we have a small laser in the sniffer hole

kao, na primjer, mali laser u rupi

where the animal has to stick for five seconds.

gdje životinja stavlja svoj nos na pet sekundi.

So, to standardize this.

Dakle, standardizacija ovoga.

Also, to standardize the pellets,

Također, standardizacija pilula,

the food rewards,

nagradne hrane,

and to semi-automate this

i poluautomatizovati ovo

in order to replicate this on a much larger scale

kako bismo ovo mogli podići na veću razinu

and affect the lives of many more people.

i utjecati na živote još više ljudi.

To conclude, there are also other applications at the horizon.

Mogu zaključiti da mogu postojati i druge aplikacije ovoga.

Here is a first prototype

Ovo je prvi prototip

of our camera rat,

našeg ''pacova-kamermana''

which is a rat with a rat backpack

što je ustvari pacov sa ruksakom

with a camera that can go under rubble

s kamerom koja može ići ispod ruševina

to detect for victims

da pronađe žrtve

after earthquake and so on.

poslije zemljotresa itd.

This is in a prototype stage.

Ovo je faza prototipa.

We don't have a working system here yet.

Kod ovog još nemamo sistem koji bi radio.

To conclude, I would actually like to say,

U zaključku bih želio reći,

you may think this is about rats, these projects,

pomislit ćete da je o pacovima ili ovim projektima,

but in the end it is about people.

ali je se u konačnici radi o ljudima.

It is about empowering vulnerable communities

Radi se o davanju snage ranjivim zajednicama

to tackle difficult, expensive

kako bi se nosili sa skupim

and dangerous humanitarian detection tasks,

i opasnim humanitarnim zadacima detekcije

and doing that with a local resource,

i to domaćim resursima

plenty available.

kojih dosta ima.

So something completely different

Dakle nešto posve drugačije je

is to keep on challenging your perception

da nastavite izazivati vlastitu percepciju

about the resources surrounding you,

o resursima oko vas

whether they are environmental,

bilo da se radi o okolišu,

technological, animal, or human.

tehnologiji, životinjama ili ljudima --

And to respectfully harmonize with them

i, da se uljudno uskladimo sa ovim resursima

in order to foster a sustainable world.

kako bismo stimulirali održiv rad.

Thank you very much.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)