Meeting a 100-year-old challenge could lead the way to digital aromas

Fragrances - promising mystery, intrigue and forbidden thrills - are blended by master perfumers, their recipes kept secret. In a new study on the sense of smell, researchers have managed to strip much of the mystery from even complex blends of odorants, not by uncovering their secret ingredients, but by recording and mapping how they are perceived. The scientists can now predict how any complex odorant will smell from its molecular structure alone. This study may not only revolutionize the closed world of perfumery, but eventually lead to the ability to digitize and reproduce smells on command. The proposed framework for odors was created by neurobiologists, computer scientists, and a master-perfumer.

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