杏吧原创

UNSCRUPULOUS restaurateurs beware. Researchers studying social behaviour in
mice and rats have come up with a way of detecting rodent infestations even when
telltale droppings have been swept away.

Minor infestations of mice are hard to detect, says Jane Hurst of the
University of Liverpool. 鈥淵ou can look for signs such as gnawing or the sounds
they make, but they鈥檙e not likely to be seen since they only come out at
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So Hurst and her colleague Rob Beynon investigated the proteins that mice and
rats use to lay down a scent trail. They paid particular attention to the sticky
proteins, called major urinary proteins (MUPs), that hold the scent molecules in
place on the ground. The Liverpool team has now developed antibodies to MUPs,
which they hope can be used in mouse and rat-detector kits.

The idea is to track mouse movements using a system similar to home pregnancy
tests, in which antibodies detect hormones by causing a colour change reaction.
Using MUP antibodies, this sort of test could be done on a swab taken from a
test area, but it could also be carried out on special tiles that could be put
down in, and removed from, suspected infestation sites.

In early trials, the MUP antibodies successfully showed up trails of coloured
pawprints where mice had been. These could help to locate mouse nests and the
points at which the mice get in, says Hurst. 鈥淚t is virtually impossible to keep
mice out of a building,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey can get through gaps the width of a
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Howard Price of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health in London
says that professional pest controllers, who know what they are looking for, can
spot signs of mice without such a test. But even they need a helping hand
sometimes. 鈥淔inding points of entry can be difficult, so it will be useful to do
some field tests,鈥� he says.