Elucidation of olfactory mechanism and development of olfactory sensor

• Overview

  Animals rely on their olfaction to gather various information from their environment. The olfactory system is known for its remarkable sensitivity and discrimination, which is why dogs are often used for criminal investigations and drug detection. No artificial odor detection device has yet achieved such high performance. In mammals, the olfactory sensory neurons located in the nasal epithelium express membrane proteins called olfactory receptors, which can bind to odorants with specificity. We are conducting research to understand the odor response mechanism of olfactory receptors and to develop an odor sensor using olfactory receptors. However, studying membrane proteins like olfactory receptors is extremely challenging. To overcome this, we are developing new technologies to study their functions. By analyzing the response patterns of multiple olfactory receptors to odor molecules in the vapor phase, we have successfully discriminated between odor molecules that are very similar in chemical structure. Recently, we also achieved detection of odor molecules using graphene-FET devices with olfactory receptors, which opens up new possibilities for developing an odor sensor that can mimic the sense of smell.

  

Members

Kenzo Maehashi (Institute of Engineering / Professor)
Takashi Ikuta (Institute of Engineering / Assistant Professor)