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We describe the concept and roadmap of an engineered electronic nose with specificity towards analytes that differ by as little as one carbon atom, and sensitivity of being able to electrically register a single molecule of analyte. The analyte could be anything that natural noses can detect, e.g. trinitrotoluene (TNT), cocaine, aromatics, volatile organic compounds etc. The strategy envisioned is to genetically engineer a fused olfactory odorant receptor (odorant receptor (OR), a membrane-bound G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) with high selectivity) to an ion channel protein, which opens in response to binding of the ligand to the OR. The lipid bilayer supporting the fused sensing protein would be intimately attached to a nanowire or nanotube network (either via a covalent tether or a non-covalent physisorption process), which would electrically detect the opening of the ion channel, and hence the binding of a single ligand to a single OR protein domain. Three man-made technological advances: (1) fused GPCR to ion channel protein, (2) nanowire sensing of single ion channel activity, and (3) lipid bilayer to nanotube/nanowire tethering chemistry and on natural technology (sensitivity and selectivity of OR domains to specific analytes) each have been demonstrated and/or studied independently. The combination of these three technological advances and the result of millions of years of evolution of OR proteins would enable the goal of single molecule sensing with specificity towards analytes that differ by as little as one carbon atom. This is both a review of the past and a vision of the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhanced heat and moisture management has become highly urgent to clothing systems due to the global need to personalize the ventilation process. As a significant sector of apparel industries, membrane‐based clothing systems offer protection and ventilation functionalities. This review aims at providing a new viewpoint on efforts to improve heat and moisture management in membrane‐based clothing systems according to the latest advances in this field. The study terminates with presenting a perspective on current challenges and opportunities for future research directions in personal thermal and moisture management technologies. In fact, membranes with different functionalities used in clothing systems such as photonic membranes with heating and cooling performances, unidirectional liquid transport membranes, waterproof‐breathable membranes, shape‐memory membranes, thermoregulating membranes, thermal conductive membranes and finally protective membranes are investigated. The essential functions associated to different categories of the investigated membranes along with the relationships between membrane structure and properties are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]