This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Scientists have long explored the idea of using insects as our agents in the field in places where humans won't fit or survive. Imagine a cockroach in an earthquake zone, able to skitter into the rubble to map out exactly where human chemical signatures can be found, or a grasshopper leaping through a minefield to bring back a map of the bombs based on the vapors it encountered.
Recent research from Washington University in St. Louis brings this sci-fi concept one step closer to reality. "We marry the best biology has to offer with engineering principles to create a superior sensing system," said Barani Raman, the Dennis & Barbara Kessler Professor in biomedical engineering at the WashU McKelvey School of Engineering.
Raman and his colleague Srikanth Singamaneni, the Lilyan & E. Lisle Hughes Professor in mechanical engineering and materials science, are senior authors of research now published in the journal Advanced Materials. The study describes a hybrid chemical sensing system combining an insect's natural sensing abilities with nanomaterials to help collect and identify chemical samples.
Both biological and artificial chemical sensing systems have drawbacks, Singamaneni said. A locust's olfactory system is extremely sensitive and can detect faint odors that guide its behavior. But even with 50,000 olfactory receptor neurons in each antenna, it can't identify a wide enough range of chemical compounds.
Meanwhile, synthetic sensors don't perform as well as more nimble living creatures, but they can be very accurate at detecting specific compounds. "Both biological and artificial chemical sensing approaches have their strengths and drawbacks," said Singamaneni, but by combining them, "you can cast a broader net." Here, they added an ultralight, highly porous nanomaterial coating, known as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate, to the locusts' antennae. SERS is a technique that boosts signals from molecules on or near nanostructured metal surfaces; it's especially useful for detecting trace chemicals.
In this case, researchers used a collagen foam applied to the antennae or wings. The foam augmented the insect's odor-detecting skills without interfering with its other functions. Singamaneni's lab specializes in designing and synthesizing these types of nanomaterials.
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