Towards Stochastic Molecular Sensing: the Receptronics Project

Molecular sensing is a technique where Technology cannot compete with Nature. As an example, the accuracy of chemical senses in insects is 100 billions greater than state-of-the-art electronic noses. The incredible sensitivity of living beings is based on the molecular recognition paradigm associated with the the ligand-receptor interaction. This technique is the primordial process of biological communication required by any regulatory process: cells send data by means of a complex network of molecular messengers. There are perhaps millions of regulatory substances in the human body and any imbalance between them may have dramatic consequences for well-being and health. Thus, molecular recognition is one of the first steps for a deep understanding of biological mechanisms and being able to detect specific molecules at very low concentrations might be a new promising area for diagnostics. However, it raises several challenges that require new design approaches with strong synergy between different disciplines: from microfluidics to ionics and from nanoelectronics to stochastic data processing. The presentation, will focus on objectives, challenges and results of the RECEPTRONICS project funded by the European Commission, aimed at developing a biomimetic approach for molecular recognition.