For the first time, researchers have determined how a human olfactory receptor captures an airborne scent molecule, the pivotal chemical event that triggers our sense of smell. Whether it evokes roses ...

It’s clear that genes, receptors and neurons all play a role in detecting odors. But much of how we make sense of what we sniff remains mysterious. A neuroscientist explains. By Daniela Hirschfeld / ...

Most of us take our senses for granted, at least until one of them stops working. But despite the usefulness of smell, sight, touch and the other senses, they took millions of years to work themselves ...

Researchers have long known that the chemical structure of the molecules we inhale influences what we smell. But in most cases, no one can figure out exactly how. Scientists have deciphered a few ...

Our noses can effortlessly distinguish the aroma of coffee from the tang of gasoline, yet how they do it has long been a mystery. In a study that appears Oct. 30 in Nature, scientists at Duke ...

Humans have about 400 odorant receptors (ORs), but scientists have had trouble finding ligands that match up with most of these ORs in lab settings—leaving them with a murky understanding of how ...

Breaking a longstanding impasse in our understanding of olfaction, scientists have created the first molecular-level, 3D picture of how an odor molecule activates a human odorant receptor, a crucial ...

When Thomas Hummel gets a whiff of an unripe, green tomato, he finds himself in his childhood home in Bavaria. Under the tilted ceilings of the bedroom that he shared with his two older brothers, ...