Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

How one of the oldest natural insecticides keeps mosquitoes away

With mosquito season upon us, people are stocking up on repellents to prevent itchy bites. Bug repellents are important because they don't just protect against the buzzing, blood-sucking little pests—they also safeguard ...

Medical research

Smelling with your tongue

Scientists from the Monell Center report that functional olfactory receptors, the sensors that detect odors in the nose, are also present in human taste cells found on the tongue. The findings suggest that interactions between ...

Genetics

Gene switch for odorant receptors

The olfactory sensory neurons in the nasal mucosa perceive the myriad smells in the air with the aid of odorant receptors. Each sensory neuron chooses one and only one receptor gene for expression. The probability that a ...

Neuroscience

A 'time switch' in the brain improves sense of smell

When the brain processes olfactory stimuli, it differentiates between similar smells using subtly modulated signals. Brain examinations and behavioral studies in mice have now shown that neurons with inhibiting characteristics ...

Neuroscience

What's that smell? Scientists find a new way to understand odors

Every smell, from a rose to a smoky fire to a pungent fish, is composed of a mixture of odorant molecules that bind to protein receptors inside your nose. But scientists have struggled to understand exactly what makes each ...

Genetics

Olfactory neurons adapt to the surrounding environment

Olfactory receptors, present on the surface of sensory neurons in the nasal cavity, recognize odorant molecules and relay this information to the brain. How do these neurons manage to detect a large variability of signals ...

page 1 from 2