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AnonTechie [soylentnews.org] writes:

Scientists who discovered how our bodies feel the warmth of the sun or the hug of a loved one have won the Nobel Prize. David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian, both of the United States, share the 2021 prize for Medicine or Physiology for their work on sensing touch and temperature. They unpicked how our bodies convert physical sensations into electrical messages in the nervous system.

David Julius of the University of California utilised 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. Ardem Patapoutian, who is with Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Scripps Research, used pressure-sensitive cells to discover a novel class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli in the skin and internal organs. Their findings could lead to new ways of treating pain. Thomas Perlman, from the Nobel Prize Committee, said "It was a very important and profound discovery".

David Julius, Ardem Patapoutian win 2021 Nobel Prize in Medicine [indiatoday.in]

[Also Covered By]: BBC News Services [bbc.com]

[Source]: The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute [nobelprize.org]

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