Sensor Research and Development

Based on computational modeling techniques, HUJI Israel, TU Dresden and FSU Jena will work closely together to develop novel smell receptor molecules, which enable the electronic recognition of body odors.

Synthesizing mucin based smell receptor molecules (Work Package 3)

BACKGROUND: Our nose smells the different odors by the use of a special glycoprotein. We will use a simpler version of this glycoprotein to assemble an electronic sniffer on an electrode. Such device will be able to sense the level and proportions of different body odors.

METHODS: We will prepare Mucin derived building blocks, utilizing automated glycan and glycoconjugates synthesis. For the usage in the electronic nose device, we will produce detector chips functionalized with mucin derived molecules using a special inkjet printing technology. The interactions of odorants with the functionalized chips will be studied and the gained knowledge used for the further optimization of the technology.