You dirty rat - The Antenna

Electronic News, May 6, 2002

RESEARCHERS AT THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center have discovered a new use for rats outside the laboratory. Last week researchers announced the creation of "search-and-rescue" rats that could be used to find land mines or humans trapped in rubble. The researchers, led by John K.

Chapin, professor of physiology and pharmacology at the college, have implanted probes into the rat's brain and whiskers. Wires were run from the probes into a backpack carried by the rat, while a microprocessor-based, remote-controlled stimulator inside the backpack was used to carry signals that steer the rat and reward desired behavior. After laboratory training, the rats were directed to perform such feats as climbing trees, climbing fences and exploring building rubble. A rat, said Chapin, could be used where search-and-rescue dogs cannot go. It "could sit on the [land] mine without exploding it, making it possible to identify its location and dispose of it safely. In addition, rats are more mobile than mechanical robots, which often are stymied by obstacles such as fences, rocks and debris," Chapin said in a statement. "While robots would be useful in environments where a living thing could not survive, such as where there are fires or poisonous gases, the rat has rather sophisticated navigational skills developed over 200 million years of evolution."