Humans have about 400 odorant receptors (ORs), but scientists have had trouble finding ligands that match up with most of these ORs in lab settings—leaving them with a murky understanding of how ...

Tsukuba, Japan—Animals, including humans, rely on their sense of smell to locate food, avoid predators, and communicate. This sensory ability depends on specialized receptor proteins. In vertebrates, ...

Olfactory receptors (ORs) are key to how animals perceive their surroundings, guiding behaviors like foraging, mating, and avoiding danger. In chordates, the genes encoding these receptors are ...

For the first time, researchers have determined how a human olfactory receptor captures an airborne scent molecule, the pivotal chemical event that triggers our sense of smell. Whether it evokes roses ...