Scientist claimed, in December, that they have a new tool to help fight tuberculosis (TB). This tool is the African giant rat. These rats can grow to be the size of a raccoon. The rats can sniff out TB in humans. To find TB, scientist tock samples of sputum (goop that sick people cough up and then spit out of their mouths) and placed them under the rat cages. If the rat stopped over the TB sample, the rat would receive a banana. If it did not it would receive no banana. The training for the rats took between five and six months and when the rats were finally ready they were able to test a dozen sputum samples in about one minute. The scientist took sputum samples from about 10,000 people from the country of Tanzania. The scientist found 1,400 of the 10,000 people had TB. The rats found 90 percent of the 1,400 people with TB. The rats also found more cases than the scientists. The rats seem like they can find TB, even when it does not show up on a microscope because the sample is to tiny, even for microscopes. The rats have to be more accurate before they can be trusted to find TB. In 2009, TB killed about 4,700 a day.
My opinion to the new TB detectors is that if they work we should be used. I think that the rats training should continue, till they can find 99% of TB in their test subjects. I believe that this testing can lead the way to testing in other animals to help cure and find diseases. These rats are proving that we should find new ways to save lives, where our technology cannot. I hope these rats save lives one day by finding TB.
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