How humans lost their scents
A study found that 54% of human olfactory receptor genes are impaired, compared to 28-36% in other primates. The decline of the sense of smell likely occurred within an 'evolutionary moment' 3-5 million years ago.
Olfactory Receptors
Articles tagged with Olfactory Receptors
Metal ions may play big role in how we sense smells
Scientists propose a new mechanism for passing information through cell membranes via a shuttlecock motion involving metalloproteins. This theory explains why dietary zinc deficiencies lead to a loss of smell and has significant implications for understanding the sense of smell.
Your brain is teaching your nose new tricks, say UC Berkeley researchers
Researchers at UC Berkeley have found that the adult brain has more capabilities to change than previously thought. By exposing non-detectors to a specific odor, they showed that both nostrils can learn to detect it, suggesting a central component in the brain is involved in olfactory learning.
Odor index: A new tool to help minimize odor problems
The Odor Index is a new tool that relates the concentration of odorants to human perception, providing a comparative scale for measuring odors. The technology has shown significant reductions in odors in wastewater treatment plants and other industries.
Assaulting the mosquito’s sense of smell
Researchers at Vanderbilt University have identified four genes in the Anopheles gambiae mosquito that code for odorant receptors similar to those found in fruit flies. These genes are only expressed in the antennae and maxillary palps, indicating that mosquitoes use a conserved chemosensory system to track human body odor.
Both smells and pheromones may arouse instinctive behaviors in mammals
Researchers have found that both smells and pheromones can arouse instinctive behaviors in mammals, including humans. This is achieved through the detection of odorants by the vomeronasal organ (VNO) and the olfactory epithelium (OE), with pheromone signals directly influencing mid-brain areas controlling behavior and hormonal responses.
Nerve protein shown crucial to sensations of pain from heat, injury
A nerve protein known as the capsaicin receptor triggers pain signals when exposed to heat or noxious chemicals, contributing to pain from tissue injury and inflammation. Blocking this receptor may ease some kinds of pain, such as visceral pain conditions.
Search for taste receptors yields sweet success
Scientists have identified a family of candidate genes in humans and mice that code for receptors detecting bitter and sweet tastes. The discovery provides new tools to trace the wiring of the taste perception pathways into the brain, shedding light on how we perceive different tastes.
How the nose knows
Researchers have discovered that specialized proteins in the nose called olfactory receptors can bind with multiple odor molecules, creating a unique 'fingerprint' that the brain understands as a particular smell. This discovery could lead to new fragrances and flavors, as well as artificial smell sensors.
Researchers Discover How Mammals Distinguish Different Odors
Scientists discover that the sense of smell in mammals uses a combinatorial code to recognize and process odors, allowing for the detection of thousands of scents with relatively few odor receptors. The study reveals that different combinations of receptors are used to describe various smells.
How The Nose Knows
Linda Buck and colleagues found that the olfactory system uses a combination of odorant receptors to recognize different odors. The nose can discriminate a vast number of diverse odorants by recognizing distinct combinations of receptors.
UCSD And NIH Researchers Isolate Candidates For Genetic Basis Of Human Taste
Scientists have isolated two novel proteins expressed in cells specifically geared to the sense of taste, which are believed to be the first taste receptors. These candidate taste receptors resemble those that mediate sensory processes such as vision and olfaction and are positioned in specific cells on the tongue.
Columbia Biologists Match Odor Receptor To Odor; Research Uncovers How Sense Of Smell Works; First Aroma Scientists Detect Is That Of Meat
Researchers at Columbia University have linked a particular odor to the proteins in the human nose that detect it for the first time. They matched the smell of meat to a specific protein in rat nerve cells, shedding light on how the sense of smell works.
Harvard Medical School Researchers Identify A New Family Of Candidate Pheromone Receptors
Researchers have identified a multigene family of candidate pheromone receptors expressed by sensory neurons in the vomeronasal organ, which may recognize different classes of pheromones. The discovery could lead to understanding of innate behaviors and mating behaviors in mice.