Novel biosensors from Scentian Bio combine synthesized insect olfactory receptors and AI to rapidly interpret signals and analyze and measure chemical compounds for food quality and human health diagnostics.
Benefits
- Measure food quality
- Reduce food waste
- Detect human disease early
Applications
- Food quality
- Sustainable agriculture
- Human health
UN Sustainable Development Goals Addressed
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Goal 2: Zero Hunger
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Goal 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
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Goal 12: Responsible Production & Consumption
The Challenge
The need for more rapid and precise chemical detection technologies spans a range of industries. For example, current technology for food quality testing is costly, slow, and ineffective at identifying low concentrations of key compounds that are needed to ensure the quality of ingredients. In sustainable agriculture, the timely and accurate detection of pest infestations is necessary to minimize environmental impact.In healthcare, early and non-invasive diagnostic tools are required to identify diseases through subtle chemical markers in the body. These challenges are common to any industries that rely on precise, real-time chemical sensing to address inefficiencies and improve health and environmental outcomes.
Biological Model
Insects sense the world via smell by using highly sensitive olfactory receptors, which evolved over 400 million years. These receptors, located in their antennae, allow them to detect a wide range of chemicals in their environment. Unlike mammalian receptors, insect receptors can bind to many different molecules. This “combinatorial” approach means a small number of receptors can recognize thousands of different chemical compounds. Once a scent molecule binds to a receptor, it triggers an electrical signal that is sent to the insect’s brain, where the information is processed, helping them navigate, find food, mates, and communicate with others.
Innovation Details
Using inspiration from insect olfactory systems, Scentian Bio developed biosensors that unlock the chemical information of the world around us. Their biosensor solution combines physical hardware with a digital AI solution, emulating the neuronal network of an insect’s olfactory system to interpret signals, offering a detailed and precise profile of chemical compounds to customers in real time.
The physical component of their innovation is a small hand-held “flow cell” that uses the dynamics of fluids on a microscopic scale to deliver a liquid sample to their insect-inspired receptors. The receptors process and communicate the information with the digital AI component through electrical signals, which then interprets and translates the information into simple results for the customer (e.g. a quality control result or alert for an unwanted residue).
The Scentian Bio team is continuing to develop their platform technology to identify the best receptors for given targets in order to tailor its functionality to specific needs and industries.
Scentian Bio flow cell.
Scentian Bio Limited Founder and CTO, Andrew Kralicek, with CEO, Jonathan Good.
The Human Factor
Andrew Kralicek’s journey to founding Scentian Bio began with a fascination for proteins – the tireless molecules that orchestrate life in living systems. Living in Spain, he became fascinated by insects and their extraordinary ability to navigate the world through scent. He marveled at how these tiny creatures use a limited repertoire of smell receptor proteins – numbering in the tens to low hundreds – to detect and decode millions of volatile signals. This biological brilliance enables insects to pollinate crops, decompose organic matter, and balance ecosystems as both predator and prey.
Inspired by this delicate yet powerful natural system, Andrew returned to New Zealand, eager to delve deeper into these receptors in the lab. His initial focus was on developing ways to control agricultural pests that threaten food security and ecosystems. But as he worked, a groundbreaking idea took root: what if these natural receptors could be harnessed and placed on a biosensor? What if they could detect signature smells—such as the faint chemical traces of diseases—that humans and existing technologies couldn’t perceive?
This idea became the foundation of Scentian Bio, a venture that redefines how we sense the world. With Andrew’s vision, the Scentian Bio team is creating a disruptive sensor platform that emulates the insect olfactory system, expanding the boundaries of human perception and offering innovative solutions for healthcare, agriculture, and beyond.
Ray of Hope Accelerator
The Ray of Hope Accelerator supports an annual cohort of ten high-impact nature-inspired startups representing various sectors and regions addressing the world’s biggest environmental and sustainability challenges. The accelerator builds upon years of experience as the Ray of Hope Prize (2020-2023), which was created in honor of Ray C. Anderson, a business and sustainability leader and founder of Interface, Inc. Scentian Bio Limited was a participant in the 2024 Ray of Hope Accelerator.
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