Artificial cell membrane sensor using mosquito olfactory receptor

Abstract

Insect olfactory receptors have both excellent sensitivity and selectivity. Such an olfactory receptor is expected to be utilized as an odorant sensor by incorporating it into electronic devices. We have developed a biohybrid odor sensor that consists of a mosquito olfactory receptor reconstituted in a lipid bilayer membrane formed by the droplet contact method. When using the olfactory receptors as a sensor, the poor solubility of odorants in water becomes a serious problem. In this paper, we describe the device that effectively introduce odorants into aqueous droplets, and present an odorant sensing robot and a breath diagnosis system.