Scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way to mass-produce smell receptors in the laboratory, an advance that paves the way for "artificial noses" to be created and used in a variety of settings.
The work, appearing on-line this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), could also allow scientists to unlock the mystery of how the sense of smell can recognize a seemingly infinite range of odors.
Artificial noses could one day replace drug- and explosive- sniffing dogs, and could have numerous medical applications, according to the research team.
"The main barrier to studying smell is that we haven't been able to make enough receptors and purify them to homogeneity. Now, it's finally available as a raw material for people to utilize, and should enable many new studies into smell research," said Brian Cook, one of the researchers.
Smell is one of the most complex and least-understood senses. Humans have a vast olfactory system that includes close to 400 functional genes, more than are dedicated to any other function.
In future work, the team plans to work with researchers worldwide to develop a portable microfluidic device that can identify an array of different odors. Such a device could be used in medicine for the early diagnosis of certain diseases that produce distinctive odors, such as diabetes and lung, bladder and skin cancers. There are also a wide range of industrial applications for such a smell-based biosensing device.
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