Hybrid Nano-Bio-Electronic Odor Detector

The goal is to develop a volatile odor detector using mammalian olfactory receptors (ORs) integrated with metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) nanoelectronic circuits. The Army has urgent need for cost-effective odor sensing for novel biological materials integrated with inorganic devices to sense chemical and biological agents. However, e-noses still do not possess the dynamic range and selectivity of the mammalian nose, nor show sufficient sensor stability for evaluating sample gases containing complex mixtures of molecules in very low concentrations. Novel olfactory biosensing approaches may overcome these challenges by integrating the specificity and sensitivity of biological OR-ligand interactions with engineered sensor platforms. Jan Biotech, Inc., in STTR development with Professor Theresa Curtis of SUNY-Cortland, proposes a novel CMOS-based e-nose integrated with the established and highly successful electrical cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) technology developed for the Army for highly sensitive and specific toxin detection (Curtis et al., 2009, 2013; Brennan et al., 2016). This technology has the exciting potential for CMOS e-noses with great longevity (greater than 9 months in cold storage) and mammalian OR specificity when paired with cold-tolerant fish cells and effectively bypasses limitations of mammalian and olfactory cilia maintenance and culture needs of existing e-noses.