Scientists have genetically modified mice to enable them to sniff out landmines, the explosives buried just below the surface of the ground. They hope the GM mouse, known as MouSensor, could become a useful tool to help deal with the dangerous devices left from past wars. 

        Although it sounds peculiar, similar efforts have already been made. A Belgian charity uses giant African HeroRats to sniff out the chemical explosive, TNT. Two of these rats can clear an area in less than two hours that would take two people two days to do. One disadvantage of the HeroRat, however, is that it needs nine months’ training before being ready for landmine detection. 

        Scientists wanted to improve on the HeroRat concept by creating a “supersniffer” mouse, MouSensor. They found that a receptor in the lab mouse’s nose is sensitive to the odor of the chemical elements in TNT and landmines. By altering the genes of the mouse, scientists are able to enhance the capability of its receptor 500 times stronger than before. Besides having super sniffing power, the MouSensor is cheaper to manage and easier to breed than the rats. 

        When the MouSensor detects the presence of a landmine, it would have some sort of a seizure and faint because of its extreme sensitivity of the explosives. And this change of the mouse’s physical condition would trigger a chip implanted under its skin to send a signal to a computer monitored by scientists. As a result, the location of the landmine could be identified, and a bomb-disposal expert could go in and neutralize it. The mouse itself would be safe from the landmine, since it would be too small to trigger an explosion.

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