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

譯者: Yung Hsiang Tseng 審譯者: Xiaogeng Zhao

I'm here today to share with you

今天很榮幸來到這裡

an extraordinary journey -

與大家分享一段驚奇的旅程

extraordinarily rewarding journey, actually -

這是一段非常有意義的旅程

which brought me into

這也讓我

training rats

投入訓練老鼠的工作

to save human lives

讓牠們能夠

by detecting landmines

嗅出地雷，甚至是肺結核

and tuberculosis.

來拯救人命

As a child, I had two passions.

小時候，有兩件事讓我很感興趣

One was a passion for rodents.

第一，是囓齒類的動物

I had all kinds of rats,

我養過很多種老鼠

mice, hamsters,

像是家鼠、倉鼠

gerbils, squirrels.

沙鼠、松鼠

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

你們想得到的，我都養過，不信的話可以去問問寵物店老闆

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

I also had a passion for Africa.

我對非洲這塊土地也非常感興趣

Growing up in a multicultural environment,

在這多元環境下成長

we had African students in the house,

我認識各式各樣的當地學生

and I learned about their stories,

從他們身上學到許多東西

so different backgrounds,

像是非洲的各種文化背景

dependency on imported know-how,

包括外來的知識技能

goods, services,

物資、服務

exuberant cultural diversity.

以及豐富的文化多樣性

Africa was truly fascinating for me.

對我而言，非洲是個迷人的地方

I became an industrial engineer,

我後來成為了一位工程師

engineer in product development,

從事產品開發

and I focused on appropriate detection technologies,

主要投入於探測技術

actually the first appropriate technologies

也就是對開發中國家

for developing countries.

最實用的技術

I started working in the industry,

然而，在這個業界工作

but I wasn't really happy to contribute

我對於這個以物質消費為主的社會

to a material consumer society

其商品生產機制

in a linear, extracting

以及行銷手法

and manufacturing mode.

感到不以為然

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

於是我辭去那份工作，投入了真正需要關注的問題

landmines.

也就是地雷

We're talking '95 now.

在一九九五年

Princess Diana is announcing on TV

黛安娜王妃在電視上宣布

that landmines form a structural barrier

地雷對於任何發展建設來說

to any development, which is really true.

無疑是一種阻礙

As long as these devices are there,

只要地雷還在

or there is suspicion of landmines,

或疑似有地雷的區域

you can't really enter into the land.

那裡就永遠是一塊荒地

Actually, there was an appeal worldwide

但這塊未開發之地對新的開拓者來說

for new detectors

非常有吸引力

sustainable in the environments

因為那是一塊

where they're needed to produce,

能讓他們進行長期開發

which is mainly in the developing world.

並且自由運用的土地

We chose rats.

我們選用老鼠

Why would you choose rats?

選老鼠的原因是什麼呢？

Because, aren't they vermin?

牠們不是害蟲嗎？

Well, actually rats are,

現在，這群老鼠

in contrary to what most people think about them,

可說是完全顛覆了大家對老鼠的印象

rats are highly sociable creatures.

老鼠是非常群居的動物

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

在畫面上你可以看到

There's a target somewhere here.

這附近有顆地雷

You see an operator, a trained African

有位受過訓練的操作人員

with his rats in front

和一直老鼠正在搜索當中

who actually are left and right.

老鼠不斷移動

There, the animal finds a mine.

牠找到了地雷

It scratches on the soil.

牠挖了點土

And the animal comes back for a food reward.

並得到了些吃的當作獎勵

Very, very simple.

非常的簡單

Very sustainable in this environment.

對環境完全無害

Here, the animal gets its food reward.

老鼠得到了吃的作為獎勵

And that's how it works.

就是這樣進行的

Very, very simple.

非常簡單

Now why would you use rats?

為什麼用老鼠呢？

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

老鼠從50年代開始

in all kinds of experiments.

便被使用在各種實驗中

Rats have more genetic material

老鼠的嗅覺受器基因

allocated to olfaction

和其他哺乳類動物相比

than any other mammal species.

比例高了許多

They're extremely sensitive to smell.

牠們有靈敏的嗅覺

Moreover, they have the mechanisms to map all these smells

此外，牠們還能為牠們聞到的味道做定位

and to communicate about it.

然後告訴其他同類

Now how do we communicate with rats?

我們要如何與老鼠溝通呢？

Well don't talk rat,

我們沒辦法跟牠們說話

but we have a clicker,

但我們有個小東西，能發出聲響

a standard method for animal training,

這是在訓練動物時常用的工具

which you see there.

就是箭頭所指的那個玩意兒

A clicker, which makes a particular sound

它能發出一種特別的聲音

with which you can reinforce particular behaviors.

來加強動物的特定行為

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

首先，我們讓老鼠把咔噠聲和食物獎勵聯想在一起

which is smashed banana and peanuts together in a syringe.

所謂獎勵是用注射器餵牠們吃香蕉泥加花生

Once the animal knows click, food,

當老鼠聽到咔噠聲，就知道有東西吃了

click, food, click, food --

咔噠，吃的！咔噠，吃的！

so click is food --

當牠們習慣了之後

we bring it in a cage with a hole,

我們把牠們放近一個有洞的籠子裡

and actually the animal learns

接著牠們學會了

to stick the nose in the hole

把鼻子探近洞口

under which a target scent is placed,

下面就放著有特殊氣味的目標物

and to do that for five seconds --

牠們會在那停個五秒

five seconds, which is long for a rat.

這對老鼠來說很長了

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

學會了之後，我們再把難度提高

It learns how to find the target smell

讓老鼠學會

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

在最多有十個洞的籠子裡找東西

Then the animal learns

接著

to walk on a leash in the open

我們用皮帶繫住老鼠

and find targets.

在開放空間尋找目標

In the next step, animals learn

接下來，這些老鼠們

to find real mines in real minefields.

就要去找真正的地雷了

They are tested and accredited

老鼠經過測驗

according to International Mine Action Standards,

並且達到了國際地雷行動標準

just like dogs have to pass a test.

就和狗一樣，須要通過測試

This consists of 400 square meters.

在四百平方公尺大的地方

There's a number of mines

地下藏著

placed blindly,

數枚地雷

and the team of trainer and their rat

而訓練師和老鼠

have to find all the targets.

必須找到所有地雷

If the animal does that, it gets a license

完成的話，便能取得執照

as an accredited animal

成為合格的

to be operational in the field --

巡雷鼠

just like dogs, by the way.

順便提一下，這就像訓練狗一樣

Maybe one slight difference:

但有稍許不同

we can train rats at a fifth of the price

我們只花訓練狗兒經費的五分之一

of training the mining dog.

就可以訓練出能探測地雷的老鼠

This is our team in Mozambique:

這是我們在莫三比克的團隊

one Tanzanian trainer,

我們坦尚尼亞籍的隊員

who transfers the skills

教導三個莫三比克的同事

to these three Mozambican fellows.

如何訓練老鼠找地雷

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

你可以從這些人眼中感受到驕傲的光芒

They have a skill,

因為他們有技術

which makes them much less dependent

可以讓自己更獨立

on foreign aid.

減少依賴外來援助

Moreover, this small team

另外，這個團隊

together with, of course, you need the heavy vehicles

也需要有卡車和人力

and the manual de-miners to follow-up.

才可以進行後續的實驗

But with this small investment in a rat capacity,

但我們在莫三比克

we have demonstrated in Mozambique

訓練老鼠的經費其實不多

that we can reduce the cost-price per square meter

比起傳統的掃雷方法，我們大約每平方公尺

up to 60 percent

可節省六成的費用

of what is currently normal --

這已經是合理的開銷範圍

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

以往每平方公尺2美元的花費，我們只需1.18美金

and we can still bring that price down.

而且價格還可以壓更低

Question of scale.

至於發展規模

If you can bring in more rats,

如果能引進更多老鼠的話

we can actually make the output even bigger.

就可以讓成效更顯著

We have a demonstration site in Mozambique.

我們在莫三比克有個實驗據點

Eleven African governments

十一個非洲國家的政府

have seen that they can become less dependent

藉由老鼠掃雷的科技，使他們對於國外技術的依賴

by using this technology.

大大降低

They have signed the pact for peace

這些國家已經簽署

and treaty in the Great Lakes region,

對非洲大湖區的和平協議

and they endorse hero rats

同時也認可老鼠

to clear their common borders of landmines.

可以進入國家邊界地帶掃除地雷

But let me bring you to a very different problem.

然而還有一個必須考量到的問題

And there's about 6,000 people last year

去年非洲大約有六千人

that walked on a landmine,

死於誤觸地雷

but worldwide last year,

而去年全世界

almost 1.9 million died from tuberculosis

大約有一百九十萬人死於肺結核

as a first cause of infection.

是傳染病裡的頭號殺手

Especially in Africa

特別是在非洲

where T.B. and HIV are strongly linked,

猖獗的肺結核和愛滋病

there is a huge common problem.

是最普遍的大問題

Microscopy, the standard WHO procedure,

世界衛生組織利用顯微鏡檢測

reaches from 40 to 60 percent reliability.

大約有四到六成的可信度

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

數字會說話，在坦尚尼亞

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

有四成五的人是肺結核患者

get diagnosed with T.B. before they die.

他們都在死前不久才診斷出感染了肺結核

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

這意味著，你罹患肺結核的話

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

很有可能檢查不出身體有什麼異樣

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

但依舊會死於肺結核第二期或是其他併發症狀

And if, however,

然而

you are detected very early, diagnosed early,

若你能早期診斷出來罹患肺結核

treatment can start,

還是有辦法治療的

and even in HIV-positives, it makes sense.

即使是愛滋病呈現陽性反應，也是相同道理

You can actually cure T.B.,

你可以治療得好肺結核

even in HIV-positives.

甚至愛滋病也還有救

So in our common language, Dutch,

以我們通用的荷蘭語來說

the name for T.B.

肺結核稱為

is "tering,"

tering(荷語)

which, etymologically,

其源自於

refers to the smell of tar.

柏油的氣味

Already the old Chinese

遠古中國人的祖先

and the Greek, Hippocrates,

與古希臘名醫希波克拉底

have actually published,

都曾經表示與證實

documented, that T.B. can be diagnosed

能夠從患者所咳出的氣體

based on the volatiles

判斷出此病患

exuding from patients.

是否得到肺結核

So what we did is we collected some samples --

因此我們就從醫院取了些樣本

just as a way of testing --

以相同的型式

from hospitals,

進行實驗

trained rats on them

訓練老鼠去檢測樣本

and see if this works,

看結論是否一樣

and wonder, well,

我們也想從中了解

we can reach 89 percent sensitivity,

是否能利用為數眾多的老鼠

86 percent specificity

達到將近九成的敏感度

using multiple rats in a row.

與八成六的準確度

This is how it works,

此為我們的策略♫

and really, this is a generic technology.

也就是所謂的共通技術

We're talking now explosives, tuberculosis,

今日我們所探討的是地雷與肺結核

but can you imagine,

然而事實上

you can actually put anything under there.

任何東西皆能列入考量

So how does it work?

到底要如何執行呢？

You have a cassette with 10 samples.

此長條板子上放置有十個樣本

You put these 10 samples at once in the cage.

把這十個樣本同時放入籠子

An animal only needs two hundredths of a second

一隻老鼠只需0.005秒

to discriminate the scent, so it goes extremely fast.

就能嗅出氣味，整個過程是十分迅速的

Here it's already at the third sample.

老鼠已進行到第三個樣本了

This is a positive sample.

此為呈現陽性反應的樣本

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

老鼠聽到指令等著接受食物獎賞

And by doing so, very fast,

由此來看

we can have like a second-line opinion

我們可以快速地確認

to see which patients are positive,

哪些病患呈現陽性反應

which are negative.

哪些是陰性反應

Just as an indication,

研究顯示

whereas a microscopist can process

透過人工顯微鏡的觀測

40 samples in a day,

一天可檢視四十個樣本

a rat can process

但藉由老鼠的檢測

the same amount of samples

相同數量的樣本

in seven minutes only.

只需七分鐘而已

A cage like this --

僅僅一個籠子

(Applause)

(掌聲)

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

僅僅一個籠子，就能飼養很多老鼠

and we have now currently

目前我們擁有二十五隻老鼠

25 tuberculosis rats --

能夠篩檢肺結核

a cage like this, operating throughout the day,

僅僅一個籠子，在一天的運作之下

can process 1,680 samples.

可檢視一千六百八十個樣本

Can you imagine the potential offspring applications --

你能想像把此類的技術運用到

environmental detection

環境汙染偵測

of pollutants in soils,

像是土壤污染

customs applications,

或例行性的檢測

detection of illicit goods in containers and so on.

像是違禁物品的檢測等等

But let's stick first to tuberculosis.

不過目前先把焦點放在肺結核

I just want to briefly highlight,

我簡短地說明一下

the blue rods

藍色的長條圖

are the scores of microscopy only

是使用顯微鏡檢查的數量

at the five clinics in Dar es Salaam

從非洲達累斯薩拉姆的五間診所

on a population of 500,000 people,

總共有五十萬的人口數

where 15,000 reported to get a test done.

據調查已有一萬五千人完成檢測

Microscopy for 1,800 patients.

其中有一千八百人證實染上肺結核

And by just presenting the samples once more to the rats

我們把那一萬五千個樣本拿回實驗室

and looping those results back,

由老鼠們再檢測一次

we were able to increase case detection rates

發現這些受測者的染病比率

by over 30 percent.

上升了約三成左右

Throughout last year,

過去一年以來

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

我們...這數據當然不是很精準

we've been consistently

我們藉由老鼠的幫助

increasing case detection rates

大幅增加了肺結核的發現率

in five hospitals in Dar es Salaam

光是達累斯薩拉姆的五間診所

between 30 and 40 percent.

發現率就上升了三至四成

So this is really considerable.

這可不是個小數目

Knowing that a missed patient by microscopy

如果經由顯微鏡檢測漏掉了一個病患

infects up to 15 people,

然後傳染給其他十五個人

healthy people, per year,

一年下來

you can be sure

你可以想想

that we have saved lots of lives.

我們能拯救多少人命

At least our hero rats have saved lots of lives.

至少我們的「鼠英雄」已救了不少人

The way forward for us

現在我們該做的

is now to standardize this technology.

就是為這個技術制定一套標準化流程

And there are simple things

這其實並不難

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

舉例來說，每個讓老鼠嗅聞的洞都有光線指引

where the animal has to stick for five seconds.

每個樣本只要五秒鐘就能搞定

So, to standardize this.

一點也不難

Also, to standardize the pellets,

另外，需要標準化的

the food rewards,

就是老鼠們的獎勵

and to semi-automate this

所有一切都要朝半自動化發展

in order to replicate this on a much larger scale

如此才能擴大這個檢測技術的規模

and affect the lives of many more people.

進而拯救更多人命

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

總而言之，這項技術能應用在許多方面

Here is a first prototype

這裡有個例子

of our camera rat,

我們稱之為「攝影鼠」

which is a rat with a rat backpack

讓老鼠的背上背個攝影機

with a camera that can go under rubble

讓牠們在地震或是其他天災之後

to detect for victims

進入瓦礫堆底下

after earthquake and so on.

搜尋生還者

This is in a prototype stage.

這目前還在實驗階段

We don't have a working system here yet.

我們還沒建構一套完整的系統

To conclude, I would actually like to say,

總而言之，我想說的是

you may think this is about rats, these projects,

你們或許認為這個計劃開口閉口都是老鼠

but in the end it is about people.

但它最終的目的還是為了人類好

It is about empowering vulnerable communities

這項技術讓脆弱的人類

to tackle difficult, expensive

能夠克服各種勞心勞力

and dangerous humanitarian detection tasks,

而且極度危險的人道檢測工作

and doing that with a local resource,

它的好處是利用本地資源就能解決一切

plenty available.

而且可行性很高

So something completely different

所以我們現在面臨一個重大改變

is to keep on challenging your perception

我們必須以全新的角度

about the resources surrounding you,

來審視周遭的事物

whether they are environmental,

包括我們與生態環境、

technological, animal, or human.

科學技術以及動物間的關係

And to respectfully harmonize with them

為了這個世界的永續經營

in order to foster a sustainable world.

我們必須與萬物和諧發展

Thank you very much.

謝謝各位

(Applause)

(掌聲)