A new biosensor nose has been successfully developed by the researchers of Temple University School of Medicine that sniffs explosives. To build this biosensor Danny Dhanasekaran and his colleagues genetically engineered a yeast strain with rat olfactory signaling machinery and thereafter by linking it to the expression of green fluorescent protein. Associate Professor of Biochemistry at Temple’s Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology Danny Dhanasekaran said: We suspected that harnessing the potential of the olfactory system, which can detect innumerable chemical agents with unparalleled sensitivity and selectivity, would be of immense value in the detection of environmental toxins and chemical warfare agents even at sublethal levels The yeast cells are then cloned individually with rat olfactory receptors and when the olfactory receptor “smells” the odor of DNT or an ingredient in the explosive TNT, the biosensor turns fluorescent green. The forecast also reveals that day is not far when this bionic nose will be used to detect other hazardous gases and landmines. Via: I4u