Odor Biosensors Based on Cell Expressing Olfactory Receptor: Recent Advances

Inspired by the powerful biological olfaction, scientists extracted numerous materials such as olfactory sensory neuron, olfactory receptor (OR) protein, and odorant binding protein from animal olfactory systems, then combined them with transducers to form multiple odor biosensors. These biosensors, despite well inheriting the sensing ability of creatures, have several drawbacks, such as complex preparation process, unstable sensing material characteristics, and high cost. Unlike the biological materials listed above, cell expressing heterologous OR maintains a stable sensing performance after passaging for multiple generations, also its experimental operation is simple, and cost is low. Therefore, odor biosensors based on cell expressing OR have been well developed in recent years. In this review, we first listed several odor biosensors based on cell expressing OR, mainly focusing on fluorescent and electrophysiological measurement methods. Furthermore, we illustrated the techniques to improve the biosensor performance, e. g., wider detection range, longer lifetime, more OR types, and higher quantification efficiency. In addition, we explained the possible prospects such as big sensor array and predicting odor response.