2020 Volume 51 Issue 1 Pages 2-8
Attempts to mimic human sensations have been steadily conducted along with technological advances. In the case of olfactory and taste senses in particular, mimicry can be applied to sensor technology for industrial, medical, and scientific purposes. Biological elements related to these two senses have acted as primary transducers, while nanoeletronic materials have been used as secondary transducers. Sensitive and selective bioelectronic nose and tongue have been developed using diverse biological elements, such as nanovesicle, nanodisc, and whole cell containing olfactory and taste receptors. These biosensors have great potential to be applied in various fields, such as disease diagnosis, assessment of food quality, environmental monitoring, public safety, and the standardization of smell. In this review, we introduce recently reported bioelectronic nose and tongue studies, and discuss future perspectives and possible applications.
