In designing artificial noses modeled after biological olfaction, the challenge has been to generate a similarly large sensor repertoire with the requisite combinatorial complexity to detect odors in the real world. A further requirement is that the sensors can be manufactured with exact chemical precision and reproducibility. In a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLoS Biology, Joel White, Mary AtKisson, John Kauer and colleagues demonstrate a previously unreported property of deoxyribonucleic acid. The researchers show that single-stranded DNA molecules tagged with a fluorescent reporter and dried onto solid surfaces can respond to vapor phase odor pulses in a sequence-selective manner.
