'Robo-nose' could replace sniffer dogs

Scientists have developed an artificial "robot nose" device made from living mouse cells that could be used instead of dogs to sniff out narcotics and explosives.

The researchers from Duke University in the US developed the prototype based on odour receptors grown from the genes of mice that respond to target odours.

"This idea of an artificial nose has been present for a long time," said Hiroaki Matsunami, a professor at Duke.

"The receptors were identified in the 1990s, but there are significant technical hurdles to produce all these receptors and monitor the activity so that we can use that in an artificial device," said Matsunami.

"E-noses" that exist now use various chemical compounds to detect smells instead of receptor stem cells, Matsunami said. He said those devices are "not as good as a trained dog."