Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovering Temperature and Touch Receptors

This year, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to two US scientists who discovered the receptors with which people feel heat, cold and touch. These findings are used to more effectively treat chronic pain.

The Nobel Prize will be awarded to Professor David Julius (65) of the University of California, San Francisco and Lebanese-born Professor Ardem Pataputian (54) of the Scrips Research Institute in California.

“Our ability to feel heat, cold and touch is important to our survival; it is the basis of our interaction with the world around us. In everyday life we ​​take these feelings for granted, but how are nerve impulses triggered so that we can feel temperature and pressure? to find out this year ‘s Nobel Prize winners, “the Nobel Committee said in a statement.

Julius used the active ingredient in chili pepper, capsaicin, to detect a sensor in the nerve endings of our skin that responds to heat. Pataputians discovered a new group of sensors that respond to mechanical action in our skin and internal organs. The work of both of them helped to discover the sensor that makes our body react to the cold.

One of the sensors discovered by scientists, TRPV1, helps explain how chronic pain occurs and how our body regulates internal temperature. The Piezo2 receptor, which is responsible for touch, also performs other functions, such as blood pressure and urination.

The Nobel Committee points outthat the discoveries of Julius and Pataputiana helped scientists better understand how our nervous system responds to heat, cold, and touch.

“Their work has helped uncover one of nature’s secrets by explaining the molecular basis of temperature sensing and mechanical force,” said Patrick Ernfors, a member of the Nobel Committee.

Nobel Prize winners will also receive a cash prize of SEK 10 million (approximately EUR 985,000), which will be shared between the two winners.

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