High-tech smell sensors aim to sniff out disease, explosives--and even moods

But now scientists and entrepreneurs are redoubling their efforts to recreate the sense of smell in compact devices that detect and analyze odors similar to the way cameras now recognize our faces and microphones our words. In pursuit of these high-tech devices–which could use odors to detect disease like cancer or Covid-19, locate hidden explosives or decipher our moods and behaviors--some companies are leveraging advances in synthetic biology and genetic engineering. Others are harnessing advances in artificial intelligence. "It's absolutely a growing field," says Andreas Mershin, an odor-sensor researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He calls the field an "unexplored goldmine."