Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to Julius and Patapoutian for Discovery of Receptors for Temperature

The American researchers were previously celebrated for their study - earlier this year they won the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine by the Spanish foundation BBVA.

David Julius, from the University of California, San Francisco, and Ardem Patapoutian, from the Scripps Institute, La Jolla, US, received the award for identifying the receptors that enable humans to sense temperature, pain, and pressure, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet announced on Monday.

"David Julius 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 used pressure-sensitive cells to discover a novel class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli in the skin and internal organs. These breakthrough discoveries launched intense research activities leading to a rapid increase in our understanding of how our nervous system senses heat, cold, and mechanical stimuli", the assembly explained.

BREAKING NEWS:
The 2021 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian “for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.” pic.twitter.com/gB2eL37IV7

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 4, 2021

The seminal discoveries by this year’s #NobelPrize laureates in physiology or medicine have explained how heat, cold and touch can initiate signals in our nervous system. The identified ion channels are important for many physiological processes and disease conditions. pic.twitter.com/TxMTwSDHas

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 4, 2021

According to the assembly, the studies are being used "to develop treatments for a range of disease conditions, including chronic pain".