Whilst the senses of vision and hearing have been successfully automated and miniaturized in portable formats (e.g. smart phone), this is yet to be achieved with the sense of smell. This is because the sensing challenge is not trivial as it involves navigating a chemosensory space comprising thousands of volatile organic compounds. Distinct aroma recognition is based on detecting unique combinations of volatile organic compounds. In natural olfactory systems this is accomplished by employing odorant receptors (ORs) with varying specificities, together with combinatorial neural coding mechanisms. Attempts to mimic the remarkable sensitivity and accuracy of natural olfactory systems has therefore been challenging. Current portable chemical sensors for odorant detection are neither sensitive nor selective, prompting research exploring artificial olfactory devices that use natural OR proteins for sensing. Much research activity to develop OR based biosensors has concentrated on mammalian ORs, however, insect ORs have not been explored as extensively. Insects possess an extraordinary sense of smell due to a repertoire of odorant receptors evolved to interpret olfactory cues vital to the insects' survival. The potential of insect ORs as sensing elements is only now being unlocked through recent research efforts to understand their structure, ligand binding mechanisms and development of odorant biosensors. Like their mammalian counterparts, there are many challenges with working with insect ORs. These include expression, purification and presentation of the insect OR in a stable display format compatible with an effective transduction methodology while maintaining OR structure and function. Despite these challenges, significant progress has been demonstrated in developing OR-based biosensors which exploit insect ORs in cells, lipid bilayers, liposomes and nanodisc formats. Ultrasensitive and highly selective detection of volatile organic compounds has been validated by coupling these insect OR display formats with transduction methodologies spanning optical (fluorescence) and electrical (field effect transistors, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) techniques. This review summarizes the current status of insect OR based biosensors and their future outlook.

虽然视觉和听觉已经成功地以便携式形式（例如智能手机），这还有待于用嗅觉来实现。这是因为传感挑战并非微不足道，因为它涉及在包含数千种挥发性有机化合物的化学传感空间中导航。独特的香气识别基于检测挥发性有机化合物的独特组合。在自然嗅觉系统中，这是通过使用具有不同特异性的气味受体 (OR) 以及组合神经编码机制来实现的。因此，试图模仿自然嗅觉系统非凡的灵敏度和准确性一直具有挑战性。当前用于气味检测的便携式化学传感器既不灵敏也不具有选择性，这促使研究探索使用天然 OR 蛋白质进行传感的人工嗅觉设备。许多开发基于 OR 的生物传感器的研究活动都集中在哺乳动物 ORs 上，然而，昆虫 ORs 尚未得到广泛探索。昆虫具有非凡的嗅觉，这是因为进化出的气味受体能够解释对昆虫生存至关重要的嗅觉线索。昆虫 OR 作为传感元件的潜力现在才通过最近的研究工作来了解它们的结构、配体结合机制和气味生物传感器的发展。与哺乳动物的对应物一样，使用昆虫 OR 也存在许多挑战。这些包括昆虫 OR 以与有效转导方法兼容的稳定展示格式的表达、纯化和呈现，同时保持 OR 结构和功能。尽管面临这些挑战，在开发基于 OR 的生物传感器方面取得了重大进展，该传感器利用细胞、脂质双层、脂质体和纳米盘形式中的昆虫 OR。通过将这些昆虫 OR 显示格式与跨越光学（荧光）和电气（场效应晶体管、电化学阻抗谱）技术的转导方法相结合，已经验证了对挥发性有机化合物的超灵敏和高选择性检测。本综述总结了基于昆虫 OR 的生物传感器的现状及其未来展望。通过将这些昆虫 OR 显示格式与跨越光学（荧光）和电气（场效应晶体管、电化学阻抗谱）技术的转导方法相结合，已经验证了对挥发性有机化合物的超灵敏和高选择性检测。本综述总结了基于昆虫 OR 的生物传感器的现状及其未来展望。通过将这些昆虫 OR 显示格式与跨越光学（荧光）和电气（场效应晶体管、电化学阻抗谱）技术的转导方法相结合，已经验证了对挥发性有机化合物的超灵敏和高选择性检测。本综述总结了基于昆虫 OR 的生物传感器的现状及其未来展望。