Sense of smell - the odorant receptor code, Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2004

Abstract

Two American molecular biologists Richard Axel and Linda Buck won the Nobel Prize for physiology r medicine in 2004. They discovered a large gene family that gives rise to many olfactory receptors. The discovery allowed to explore how the brain discriminates among different odors and to reveal, using a genetic approach, the organization of the olfactory system.