The fundamental mechanism of olfactory receptor activation has been conserved from yeast to humans. Engineered yeast cells can smell some of the same odorants as humans can, which makes yeast an ideal model system for studying human olfaction. Furthermore, if engineered yeast cells are incorporated into sensory arrays, they can be used as biosensors or artificial noses.Keywords: Yeast, olfactory receptor, G protein-coupled receptor, biosensor, smellReceived: 31 July 2008 / Received in revised form: 6 August 2008, Accepted: 13 August 2008, Published online: 17 August 2008
