A single protein based nanobiosensor for odorant recognition E. Alfinito 1,2 , J.-F. Millithaler 1,2 , C. Pennetta 1,2 , L. Reggiani 1,2 1 Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Innovazione, Universit` a del Salento Via Monteroni, I-73100, Lecce, Italy, EU 2 CNISM -Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze Fisiche della Materia, via della Vasca Navale, 84, I-00146, Roma, Italy, EU Abstract We propose a nanosensor with a biological active part able to identify spe- cific odorants. The biological part should be constituted by olfactory recep- tors pertaining to the G protein-coupled receptors, the most efficient natural sensors for odorant discrimination. Modeling, design, and experiments per- formed for proving the concept are reported and discussed. Keywords: nanobiosensors, impedance network, olfactory receptors 1. Introduction The aim of this paper is to present a novel design for a smell nanobiosen- sor, which integrates mammalian olfactory receptors (ORs) with an elec- trical/electronic transducer. Indeed, mammalian nose is the gold standard of smell biosensors, being able to distinguish many thousands of different odorants and also to learn and recognize new smells. **In mammalians the olfactory systems has played a fundamental role in the life and death struggle. As matter of fact, it is fundamental for a fast identifying of preys and preda- tors and, in general for avoiding, toxic food. In spite of this crucial role, the knowledge on olfaction is far from a complete comprehension, because of the complexity of mechanisms involved, from the molecular aspects of odorand bindings to the final signal transduction. In particular, two different pro- teins work in synergy, the olfactory receptors (ORs) and the odorant-binding Email address: eleonora.alfinito@unisalento.it (E. Alfinito 1,2 ) Preprint submitted to Microelectron. J July 2, 2010