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Published online 9 May 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.804
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Don't turn your nose up at mouse urine
Urinary proteins are key to ultra-sensitive artificial noses.
Special properties of mouse urine are being harnessed to build artificial noses — devices that can sniff out trace quantities of explosives or pollutants, or pick out different smells for food quality control.
Electronic noses currently on the market use materials that change their physical properties when the target molecule is caught on them.
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