RATS AS BIOSENSORS...RATS AS BIOSENSORS APOPO IMPACT –MINE DETECTIONLand released for local...

RATS AS BIOSENSORSEmploying African giant pouched rats as

scent detectors

Dr. Miriam Schneider, Senior Researcher, APOPO

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO

◼ Who we are and what we do

APOPO is a Belgium non-profit organization with

headquarter in Tanzania that trains African giant

pouched rats (Cricetomys ansorgei) to save lives by

sniffing out landmines and tuberculosis (TB)

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

WHERE WE WORK

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

HOW WE DO IT – MINE DETECTION

◼ A mine detection rat can search the

area of a tennis court in < 30

minutes. This can take a human

with a metal detector up to 4 days.

◼ Unlike metal detectors, mine

detection rats ignore scrap metal and

only detect the scent of explosives.

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

APOPO IMPACT – MINE DETECTION

Land released for local communities

23,623,426 m2 M2

138,480

Total landmines and UXO destroyed

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

HOW WE DO IT -TB

◼ Rats as efficient second-line screening tool:

A trained rat can check 100 samples in 20

minutes. This could take a lab technician

up to four days.

◼ The rats are detecting the scent of

tuberculosis in sputum samples.

◼ Suspect samples are then re-

checked using WHO endorsed

confirmation tests.

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

HOW WE DO IT -TB

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

APOPO IMPACT - TB

Additional TB patients found

15,679

Total number of samples evaluated

591,878

APOPO’s research has raised the case detection rate of partner clinics by 40%

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

WHY GIANT POUCHED RATS

Ewer, 1966; Peichl et al. 1998

Sense of smell important for

navigation, social skills and

detection and choice of

foodsources

Nocturnal animals; live in underground

burrows; blurry, monochromatic vision

◼ Highly developed sense of smell

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

WHY GIANT POUCHED RATS

◼ Highly developed sense of smell

◼ Intelligent and easy to train

◼ Cheap to feed, breed, maintain

and transport

◼ Indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa

and therefore resistant to most

tropical diseases and familiar with

the climate

◼ Although sociable - easily

transferable between trainers

◼ Live up to 10 years

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

WILDLIFE DETECTION

◼ APOPO is a Belgium non-profit organization with headquarter in Tanzania that trains African giant pouched rats (Cricetomysansorgei) to save lives by sniffing out landmines and tuberculosis (TB)

◼ Potential new application: detection of contraband wildlife products

◼ Employing giant rats for

detection of contraband wildlife

products ?

◼ Integrated approach to

employ rats as additional

and synergistic tools to

existing technologies

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

WILDLIFE DETECTION

◼ Proof-of-concept: Detection of contraband wildlife products

Ground Pangolin African hardwood

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

WILDLIFE DETECTION

◼ Proof-of-concept: Detection of contraband wildlife products

Target samples

Non-Targets:

Common masking agents

Pangolin scales

(Smutsia temminckii)seized African hardwood

(Dalbergia melanoxylon)

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

WILDLIFE DETECTION

◼STAGE 1: Are the rats able to find wildlife targets and ignore non-targets?

Pangolin HITs

% o

f Sa

mp

les

Hardwood HITs

False alarms

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

WILDLIFE DETECTION

◼STAGE 2: How well are the rats able to find small

amounts of the target hidden in non-target samples?

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

WILDLIFE DETECTION

◼ STAGE 2: How well are the rats able to find small amounts of

the target hidden in non-target samples?

RATS AS BIOSENSORS

WILDLIFE DETECTION

NEXT STEPS

◼ Giant pouched rats are effective biosensors

◼ They can be trained to detect wildlife products

◼ Develop deployable detection system

◼ Trial with experienced partners in real-life settings

◼ With sufficient funding - continue training with new material

◼ Finding the niche - Identify where our rats would be needed most

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

ATTENTION !

Visit us www.apopo.org

Adopt a HeroRAT https://www.apopo.org/en/adopt

miriam.schneider@apopo.org

Funding: