Laboratory equipment manufacturers may be given 'artificial nose'

Laboratory equipment manufacturers may soon have a multipurpose artificial nose at their disposal when building sensitive devices for scientific research.

Eric T Kool, professor of chemistry at Stanford University, is leading a group using DNA synthesising technology to create smell-sensitive devices.

The structure of these is similar to the familiar double helix of DNA, but with one of the helixes removed.

As a result, fluorescent compounds developed by Professor Kool's group and put in place of the usual genetic bases in the DNA strand are left with open connections.

When each compound comes into contact with the appropriate vapour, it fluoresces; however, the innovative part of the process is that multiple vapours can be detected with a single structure.

The products are reminiscent of the human medical condition known as synesthesia, in which the brain produces a visual response - such as a ribbon of colour - in the mind of the individual when a smell is detected.