The researchers David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian received the Nobel Prize in Physiology for their discoveries of temperature and touch receptors. This was announced by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm on Monday. The discoveries "have made it possible for us to understand how warmth, cold and mechanical forces trigger the nerve impulses that enable us to perceive the world around us and adapt it to it," the jury explained her choice.
Sensory physiologist Julius used capsaicin, a sharp compound of chili peppers that causes a burning sensation, to identify a sensor in the nerve endings of the skin that responds to heat.
Ardem Patapoutian, molecular biologist and neuroscientist, again, with the help of pressure -sensitive cells, discovered a new class of sensors that react to mechanical stimuli in the skin and inner organs.
Nobel Prize for recognizing the connection between senses and the environment
The discoveries have triggered intensive research activities that quickly changed the knowledge of how our nervous system perceives heat, cold and mechanical stimuli, according to a press release from the Nobel Prize jury: »The winners identified in our understanding of the complex interaction between our senses and the environment. "
David Julius was born in New York in 1955 and did his award-winning research at the University of California in San Francisco, where he still works today. Ardem Patapoutian has done his significant research at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California. He continues his research there to this day. Patapoutian was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1967 and moved to Los Angeles in his youth.
The Nobel Prize Week began with the announcement. On Tuesday, October 5, 2021, around 11.45 a.m. it will be known who will receive the award in physics. This year the price is endowed with ten million Swedish crowns, which is around 980,000 euros.
