Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded for Discovery of Temperature and Touch Receptors
The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for research on how we feel temperature, touch, and bodily spatial awareness. This discovery marks a key breakthrough in our previously limited understanding of our sense of touch.
2021 Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine, David Julius (above) and Ardem Patapoudian (below), and the discovered temperature and touch sensing proteins. Images via NobelPrize.org. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to David Julius and Ardem Patapoudian for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch, marking a key breakthrough in our understanding of how mechanical stimuli are converted into electrical impulses in the nervous system. Sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste, our five major senses, connect our bodies and brains to the world. A sixth sense, proprioception, which helps our body know where it is...