14 DAY TRIAL // The research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has managed to isolate the proteins present in real live human noses, which are believed to be responsible for associating outside stimuli to a certain smell. According to the specialists, the nose converts smells into patterns, which then the brain analyzes and determines their origin based on previous reference points. The main goal of the research is to determine how exactly the olfactory receptors in each individual are able to identify millions of different smells.
The human olfactory system is comprised of almost 400 different genes, responsible for the way the brain detects and interprets smell. Tough the number is far smaller than that of dogs (approximately 1,000 genes), scientists still believe that someday drug- and explosive-sniffing dogs could become obsolete. “Smell is perhaps one of the oldest and most primitive senses, but nobody really understands how it works.” says Shuguang Zhang, associate director of MIT's Center for Biomedical Engineering. Maybe that explains why the olfactory apparatus is more developed than any other in the human body.
Zhang believes that their discovery could open new horizons for other studies, previously impossible to carry out. He also said that there were countless practical applications for smell-detecting devices in many sectors. The basic principle behind MIT's RealNose Project is simple, a microfluidic device, which is able to filter and separate very small molecules from each other. By placing engineered olfactory receptors on these devices, scientists hope to be able to isolate certain smells and to create detectors for harmful substances.
Doctors have also expressed an interest in the artificial nose technology, given its potential applications, including the detection of dying cells, incipient lung or skin cancer and diabetes. The industrial sector has also showed interest in such a small odor-detecting device, for use on the large scale. One advantage that this “nose” has over other lab-created “noses” is that it can detect smells more thoroughly, as it uses actual live cells. Other, however, may turn up results in a shorter timeframe.