an extraordinary journey -

今天很榮幸來到這裡

extraordinarily rewarding journey, actually -

與大家分享一段驚奇的旅程

which brought me into

這是一段非常有意義的旅程

training rats

這也讓我

to save human lives

投入訓練老鼠的工作

by detecting landmines

讓牠們能夠

and tuberculosis.

嗅出地雷，甚至是肺結核

As a child, I had two passions.

來拯救人命

One was a passion for rodents.

小時候，有兩件事讓我很感興趣

I had all kinds of rats,

第一，是囓齒類的動物

mice, hamsters,

我養過很多種老鼠

gerbils, squirrels.

像是家鼠、倉鼠

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

沙鼠、松鼠

(Laughter)

你們想得到的，我都養過，不信的話可以去問問寵物店老闆

I also had a passion for Africa.

(笑聲)

Growing up in a multicultural environment,

我對非洲這塊土地也非常感興趣

we had African students in the house,

在這多元環境下成長

and I learned about their stories,

我認識各式各樣的當地學生

so different backgrounds,

從他們身上學到許多東西

dependency on imported know-how,

像是非洲的各種文化背景

goods, services,

包括外來的知識技能

exuberant cultural diversity.

物資、服務

Africa was truly fascinating for me.

以及豐富的文化多樣性

I became an industrial engineer,

對我而言，非洲是個迷人的地方

engineer in product development,

我後來成為了一位工程師

and I focused on appropriate detection technologies,

從事產品開發

actually the first appropriate technologies

主要投入於探測技術

for developing countries.

也就是對開發中國家

I started working in the industry,

最實用的技術

but I wasn't really happy to contribute

然而，在這個業界工作

to a material consumer society

我對於這個以物質消費為主的社會

in a linear, extracting

其商品生產機制

and manufacturing mode.

以及行銷手法

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

感到不以為然

landmines.

於是我辭去那份工作，投入了真正需要關注的問題

We're talking '95 now.

也就是地雷

Princess Diana is announcing on TV

在一九九五年

that landmines form a structural barrier

黛安娜王妃在電視上宣布

to any development, which is really true.

地雷對於任何發展建設來說

As long as these devices are there,

無疑是一種阻礙

or there is suspicion of landmines,

只要地雷還在

you can't really enter into the land.

或疑似有地雷的區域

Actually, there was an appeal worldwide

那裡就永遠是一塊荒地

for new detectors

但這塊未開發之地對新的開拓者來說

sustainable in the environments

非常有吸引力

where they're needed to produce,

因為那是一塊

which is mainly in the developing world.

能讓他們進行長期開發

We chose rats.

並且自由運用的土地

Why would you choose rats?

我們選用老鼠

Because, aren't they vermin?

選老鼠的原因是什麼呢？

Well, actually rats are,

牠們不是害蟲嗎？

in contrary to what most people think about them,

現在，這群老鼠

rats are highly sociable creatures.

可說是完全顛覆了大家對老鼠的印象

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

老鼠是非常群居的動物

There's a target somewhere here.

在畫面上你可以看到

You see an operator, a trained African

這附近有顆地雷

with his rats in front

有位受過訓練的操作人員

who actually are left and right.

和一直老鼠正在搜索當中

There, the animal finds a mine.

老鼠不斷移動

It scratches on the soil.

牠找到了地雷

And the animal comes back for a food reward.

牠挖了點土

Very, very simple.

並得到了些吃的當作獎勵

Very sustainable in this environment.

非常的簡單

Here, the animal gets its food reward.

對環境完全無害

And that's how it works.

老鼠得到了吃的作為獎勵

Very, very simple.

就是這樣進行的

Now why would you use rats?

非常簡單

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

為什麼用老鼠呢？

in all kinds of experiments.

老鼠從50年代開始

Rats have more genetic material

便被使用在各種實驗中

allocated to olfaction

老鼠的嗅覺受器基因

than any other mammal species.

和其他哺乳類動物相比

They're extremely sensitive to smell.

比例高了許多

Moreover, they have the mechanisms to map all these smells

牠們有靈敏的嗅覺

and to communicate about it.

此外，牠們還能為牠們聞到的味道做定位

Now how do we communicate with rats?

然後告訴其他同類

Well don't talk rat,

我們要如何與老鼠溝通呢？

but we have a clicker,

我們沒辦法跟牠們說話

a standard method for animal training,

但我們有個小東西，能發出聲響

which you see there.

這是在訓練動物時常用的工具

A clicker, which makes a particular sound

就是箭頭所指的那個玩意兒

with which you can reinforce particular behaviors.

它能發出一種特別的聲音

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

來加強動物的特定行為

which is smashed banana and peanuts together in a syringe.

首先，我們讓老鼠把咔噠聲和食物獎勵聯想在一起

Once the animal knows click, food,

所謂獎勵是用注射器餵牠們吃香蕉泥加花生

click, food, click, food --

當老鼠聽到咔噠聲，就知道有東西吃了

so click is food --

咔噠，吃的！咔噠，吃的！

we bring it in a cage with a hole,

當牠們習慣了之後

and actually the animal learns

我們把牠們放近一個有洞的籠子裡

to stick the nose in the hole

接著牠們學會了

under which a target scent is placed,

把鼻子探近洞口

and to do that for five seconds --

下面就放著有特殊氣味的目標物

five seconds, which is long for a rat.

牠們會在那停個五秒

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

這對老鼠來說很長了

It learns how to find the target smell

學會了之後，我們再把難度提高

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

讓老鼠學會

Then the animal learns

在最多有十個洞的籠子裡找東西

to walk on a leash in the open

接著

and find targets.

我們用皮帶繫住老鼠

In the next step, animals learn

在開放空間尋找目標

to find real mines in real minefields.

接下來，這些老鼠們

They are tested and accredited

就要去找真正的地雷了

according to International Mine Action Standards,

老鼠經過測驗

just like dogs have to pass a test.

並且達到了國際地雷行動標準

This consists of 400 square meters.

就和狗一樣，須要通過測試

There's a number of mines

在四百平方公尺大的地方

placed blindly,

地下藏著

and the team of trainer and their rat

數枚地雷

have to find all the targets.

而訓練師和老鼠

If the animal does that, it gets a license

必須找到所有地雷

as an accredited animal

完成的話，便能取得執照

to be operational in the field --

成為合格的

just like dogs, by the way.

巡雷鼠

Maybe one slight difference:

順便提一下，這就像訓練狗一樣

we can train rats at a fifth of the price

但有稍許不同

of training the mining dog.

我們只花訓練狗兒經費的五分之一

This is our team in Mozambique:

就可以訓練出能探測地雷的老鼠

one Tanzanian trainer,

這是我們在莫三比克的團隊

who transfers the skills

我們坦尚尼亞籍的隊員

to these three Mozambican fellows.

教導三個莫三比克的同事

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

如何訓練老鼠找地雷

They have a skill,

你可以從這些人眼中感受到驕傲的光芒

which makes them much less dependent

因為他們有技術

on foreign aid.

可以讓自己更獨立

Moreover, this small team

減少依賴外來援助

together with, of course, you need the heavy vehicles

另外，這個團隊

and the manual de-miners to follow-up.

也需要有卡車和人力

But with this small investment in a rat capacity,

才可以進行後續的實驗

we have demonstrated in Mozambique

但我們在莫三比克

that we can reduce the cost-price per square meter

訓練老鼠的經費其實不多

up to 60 percent

比起傳統的掃雷方法，我們大約每平方公尺

of what is currently normal --

可節省六成的費用

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

這已經是合理的開銷範圍

and we can still bring that price down.

以往每平方公尺2美元的花費，我們只需1.18美金

Question of scale.

而且價格還可以壓更低

If you can bring in more rats,

至於發展規模

we can actually make the output even bigger.

如果能引進更多老鼠的話

We have a demonstration site in Mozambique.

就可以讓成效更顯著

Eleven African governments

我們在莫三比克有個實驗據點

have seen that they can become less dependent

十一個非洲國家的政府

by using this technology.

藉由老鼠掃雷的科技，使他們對於國外技術的依賴

They have signed the pact for peace

大大降低

and treaty in the Great Lakes region,

這些國家已經簽署

and they endorse hero rats

對非洲大湖區的和平協議

to clear their common borders of landmines.

同時也認可老鼠

But let me bring you to a very different problem.

可以進入國家邊界地帶掃除地雷

And there's about 6,000 people last year

然而還有一個必須考量到的問題

that walked on a landmine,

去年非洲大約有六千人

but worldwide last year,

死於誤觸地雷

almost 1.9 million died from tuberculosis

而去年全世界

as a first cause of infection.

大約有一百九十萬人死於肺結核

Especially in Africa

是傳染病裡的頭號殺手

where T.B. and HIV are strongly linked,

特別是在非洲

there is a huge common problem.

猖獗的肺結核和愛滋病

Microscopy, the standard WHO procedure,

是最普遍的大問題

reaches from 40 to 60 percent reliability.

世界衛生組織利用顯微鏡檢測

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

大約有四到六成的可信度

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

數字會說話，在坦尚尼亞

get diagnosed with T.B. before they die.

有四成五的人是肺結核患者

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

他們都在死前不久才診斷出感染了肺結核

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

這意味著，你罹患肺結核的話

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

很有可能檢查不出身體有什麼異樣

And if, however,

但依舊會死於肺結核第二期或是其他併發症狀

you are detected very early, diagnosed early,

然而

treatment can start,

若你能早期診斷出來罹患肺結核

and even in HIV-positives, it makes sense.

還是有辦法治療的

You can actually cure T.B.,

即使是愛滋病呈現陽性反應，也是相同道理

even in HIV-positives.

你可以治療得好肺結核

So in our common language, Dutch,

甚至愛滋病也還有救

the name for T.B.

以我們通用的荷蘭語來說

is "tering,"

肺結核稱為

which, etymologically,

tering(荷語)

refers to the smell of tar.

其源自於

Already the old Chinese

柏油的氣味

and the Greek, Hippocrates,

遠古中國人的祖先

have actually published,

與古希臘名醫希波克拉底

documented, that T.B. can be diagnosed

都曾經表示與證實

based on the volatiles

能夠從患者所咳出的氣體

exuding from patients.

判斷出此病患

So what we did is we collected some samples --

是否得到肺結核

just as a way of testing --

因此我們就從醫院取了些樣本

from hospitals,

以相同的型式

trained rats on them

進行實驗

and see if this works,

訓練老鼠去檢測樣本

and wonder, well,

看結論是否一樣

we can reach 89 percent sensitivity,

我們也想從中了解

86 percent specificity

是否能利用為數眾多的老鼠

using multiple rats in a row.

達到將近九成的敏感度

This is how it works,

與八成六的準確度

and really, this is a generic technology.

此為我們的策略♫

We're talking now explosives, tuberculosis,

也就是所謂的共通技術

but can you imagine,

今日我們所探討的是地雷與肺結核

you can actually put anything under there.

然而事實上

So how does it work?

任何東西皆能列入考量

You have a cassette with 10 samples.

到底要如何執行呢？

You put these 10 samples at once in the cage.

此長條板子上放置有十個樣本

An animal only needs two hundredths of a second

把這十個樣本同時放入籠子

to discriminate the scent, so it goes extremely fast.

一隻老鼠只需0.005秒

Here it's already at the third sample.

就能嗅出氣味，整個過程是十分迅速的

This is a positive sample.

老鼠已進行到第三個樣本了

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

此為呈現陽性反應的樣本

And by doing so, very fast,

老鼠聽到指令等著接受食物獎賞

we can have like a second-line opinion

由此來看

to see which patients are positive,

我們可以快速地確認

which are negative.

哪些病患呈現陽性反應

Just as an indication,

哪些是陰性反應

whereas a microscopist can process

研究顯示

40 samples in a day,

透過人工顯微鏡的觀測

a rat can process

一天可檢視四十個樣本

the same amount of samples

但藉由老鼠的檢測

in seven minutes only.

相同數量的樣本

A cage like this --

只需七分鐘而已

(Applause)

僅僅一個籠子

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

(掌聲)

and we have now currently

僅僅一個籠子，就能飼養很多老鼠

25 tuberculosis rats --

目前我們擁有二十五隻老鼠

a cage like this, operating throughout the day,

能夠篩檢肺結核

can process 1,680 samples.

僅僅一個籠子，在一天的運作之下

Can you imagine the potential offspring applications --

可檢視一千六百八十個樣本

environmental detection

你能想像把此類的技術運用到

of pollutants in soils,

環境汙染偵測

customs applications,

像是土壤污染

detection of illicit goods in containers and so on.

或例行性的檢測

But let's stick first to tuberculosis.

像是違禁物品的檢測等等

I just want to briefly highlight,

不過目前先把焦點放在肺結核

the blue rods

我簡短地說明一下

are the scores of microscopy only

藍色的長條圖

at the five clinics in Dar es Salaam

是使用顯微鏡檢查的數量

on a population of 500,000 people,

從非洲達累斯薩拉姆的五間診所

where 15,000 reported to get a test done.

總共有五十萬的人口數

Microscopy for 1,800 patients.

據調查已有一萬五千人完成檢測

And by just presenting the samples once more to the rats

其中有一千八百人證實染上肺結核

and looping those results back,

我們把那一萬五千個樣本拿回實驗室

we were able to increase case detection rates

由老鼠們再檢測一次

by over 30 percent.

發現這些受測者的染病比率

Throughout last year,

上升了約三成左右

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

過去一年以來

we've been consistently

我們...這數據當然不是很精準

increasing case detection rates

我們藉由老鼠的幫助

in five hospitals in Dar es Salaam

大幅增加了肺結核的發現率

between 30 and 40 percent.

光是達累斯薩拉姆的五間診所

So this is really considerable.

發現率就上升了三至四成

Knowing that a missed patient by microscopy

這可不是個小數目

infects up to 15 people,

如果經由顯微鏡檢測漏掉了一個病患

healthy people, per year,

然後傳染給其他十五個人

you can be sure

一年下來

that we have saved lots of lives.

你可以想想

At least our hero rats have saved lots of lives.

我們能拯救多少人命

The way forward for us

至少我們的「鼠英雄」已救了不少人

is now to standardize this technology.

現在我們該做的

And there are simple things

就是為這個技術制定一套標準化流程

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

這其實並不難

where the animal has to stick for five seconds.

舉例來說，每個讓老鼠嗅聞的洞都有光線指引

So, to standardize this.

每個樣本只要五秒鐘就能搞定

Also, to standardize the pellets,

一點也不難

the food rewards,

另外，需要標準化的

and to semi-automate this

就是老鼠們的獎勵

in order to replicate this on a much larger scale

所有一切都要朝半自動化發展

and affect the lives of many more people.

如此才能擴大這個檢測技術的規模

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

進而拯救更多人命

Here is a first prototype

總而言之，這項技術能應用在許多方面

of our camera rat,

這裡有個例子

which is a rat with a rat backpack

我們稱之為「攝影鼠」

with a camera that can go under rubble

讓老鼠的背上背個攝影機

to detect for victims

讓牠們在地震或是其他天災之後

after earthquake and so on.

進入瓦礫堆底下

This is in a prototype stage.

搜尋生還者

We don't have a working system here yet.