Highly sensitive VOC detectors using insect olfactory receptors reconstituted into lipid bilayers.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33523876.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abd2013 and PMC identifier 7806217.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
This paper reports a volatile organic compound (VOC) sensor based on olfactory receptors that were reconstituted into a lipid bilayer and used in a specifically designed gas flow system for rapid parts per billion (ppb)-level detection. This VOC sensor achieves both rapid detection and high detection probability because of its gas flow system and array design. Specifically, the gas flow system includes microchannels and hydrophobic microslits, which facilitate both the introduction of gas into the droplet and droplet mixing. We installed this system into a parallel lipid bilayer device and subsequently demonstrated parts per billion-level (0.5 ppb) detection of 1-octen-3-ol in human breath. Therefore, this system extends the various applications of biological odorant sensing, including breath diagnosis systems and environmental monitoring.