A nose-on-chip platform to detect the characteristic smell linked to Parkinson’s disease (PD) is being further developed thanks to a $670,000 grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
Scientists from Yesse Technologies Inc recently validated the presence of a distinctive smell, arising from an oily skin secretion called sebum, in patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The previous identification of a specific subset of odorant receptors, the proteins in the nose that detect smells, forms the foundation for further development of a lab-based smell test to detect Parkinson’s potentially at very early stages of the disease, Yesse Technologies Inc notes in a media release.