Team:TU-Delft

Snifferomyces is a modular system, used in the detection of volatile compounds. It has in the membrane a G-protein–coupled receptor that can bind to a specific signal, once bound it then switches on a signaling machinery which transmits this information over the plasma membrane and through the cell to produce a Quantitative response in the form of fluorescence. Using the Snifferomyces, our aim is to develop a universal olfactory system which allows scientists to introduce olfactory receptors in yeast with minimal effort.

G-protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) are one of the most important classes of proteins in living organisms that allows transmission of a wide variety of signals over the cell membrane, between cells and over long distances in the human body, thus acting as both the gatekeepers and molecular messengers of the cell. The importance of these receptors is emphasized by the Nobel prize awarded in 2004 for the discoveries of "odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system" and in 2012 for "studies of G-protein–coupled receptors".