Sniffing Gerbil

A rodent for bombs

Rodents though they may be, gerbils are ideal house pets: small, cuddly and lovable. Also very sensitive and very dumb, which may make them ideal bomb sniffers at airport terminals. So says Research Physiologist David Moulton, who now has funding from the Federal Aviation Administration to test his theory.

In his Philadelphia lab, Moulton is training some 30 gerbils. For half an hour a day, they are put in training boxes, where they are confronted by three portholes. Purified air blows from two of the openings; the third assails them with a mix of air and amyl acetate, an odorous chemical that smells like bananas. When the gerbils correctly identify the odorous porthole by pressing a lever, they are rewarded with a drink of water. That's a big deal for the gerbils, who hail from the deserts of Mongolia. If they make a wrong choice, the portholes slam shut and the gerbils have 30 seconds to ponder their mistakes before the next olfactory assault.

Eventually, Moulton will lower the chemical concentration to see how well gerbils really do smell, and whether they can replace the sharp-nosed hounds at airports. Dogs almost certainly have keener noses, but they require walking, petting and lots of love; gerbils obviously have simpler needs. Of course, the idea of gerbils snuggling up to airline passengers may seem slightly ludicrous. Shrugs Moulton: "That's the FAA'S problem." qed

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