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Editorial
. 2021 Oct 1;14(10):dmm049352.
doi: 10.1242/dmm.049352. Epub 2021 Oct 27.

Hot to touch: the story of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Darren W Logan  1
Affiliations
Editorial

Hot to touch: the story of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Darren W Logan. Dis Model Mech. .

Abstract

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Ardem Patapoutian and David Julius for their research on receptor channels responsible for the perception of touch and temperature. Somatosensation, an overarching sense that enables us to safely interface with the physical forces around and within us, is the fourth sensory modality to be recognized by the Nobel Committee. The story of the discovery of TRP and PIEZO channels, and subsequent investigations into their myriad roles in the perception of noxious and mild temperature, touch, pain, pressure and body position, is an archetype for how translational research into human and animal health is built on a foundation of excellence in basic science.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Some naturally occurring compounds are perceived as having temperature. Capsaicin is responsible for the hot sensation associated with eating chillies. Image reproduced under the terms of the Pixabay License.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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