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2 US scientists win the 2021 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering the secrets behind the human sense of touch

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The 2021 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to two U.S. scientists who discovered the microscopic secrets behind the human sense of touch.

David Julius, of the University of California San Francisco, received half of the prize for using "capsaicin, a pungent compound from chili peppers that induces a burning sensation, to identify a sensor in the nerve endings of the skin that responds to heat," while Ardem Patapoutian, of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, received the other half for using "pressure-sensitive cells to discover a novel class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli in the skin and internal organs," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Monday (Oct. 4).

Their discoveries "have allowed us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force can initiate the nerve impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world around us," the Nobel Committee said in a statement. "This knowledge is being used to develop treatments for a wide range of disease conditions, including chronic pain."

https://www.livescience.com/nobel-p...ho-unlocked-the-secrets-of-our-sense-of-touch
 
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