NEW YORK—Genetic researchers are exploring a safe way to deal
with the millions of buried land mines left behind from
conflicts around the world: build a better mouse. Two scientists
changed a gene in the nose of bomb-sniffing mice so that neurons
normally set to detect thousands of aromas are tuned solely to
the odor of TNT, the most commonly used mine explosive. The
researchers at Hunter College of the City University of New York
say their genetically modified mouse will be 500 times as
sensitive to TNT as normal rodents.d While still experimental,
these mutant mice one day could replace the trained rodents and
dogs, magnetometers and machines now used to help clear mine
fields that, on average, kill or injure a dozen civilians every
day in accidental explosions. "Mice have some advantages as mine
detectors because they are cheaper to manage and house, and
easier to breed" than other animals, said molecular
neurobiologist Charlotte D'Hulst, who developed the new breed of
mice at Hunter College with her labo