The Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology is presented

At 11.30 on Monday, the first Nobel Laureate of the year was announced. The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet decided that the Nobel Prize should be shared equally between the American physiologist David Julius and the American-Armenian physiologist Ardem Patapoutian – This year’s Nobel Prize is connected with our ability to feel temperatures and touch, what is called somato sensation, says Patrik Ernfors at the Nobel Assembly.

“Pioneering discoverer”

They get the price for their discoveries about receptors for touch and temperature. In a press release, the Nobel Assembly writes that this year’s Nobel Laureates have been able to explain the question of how temperature is translated into nerve signals. The Nobel Committee’s secretary Thomas Perlmann told SVT that he managed to get hold of the researchers – and that they were “very happy”. – I think we also managed to surprise the winners themselves, he says. David Julius has used the plant substance capsaicin, which induces the feeling of heat, to identify a sensor that can detect heat in the skin’s nerve fibers. Ardem Patapoutian used a method to understand how cells respond to mechanical pressure. He discovered a whole new class of sensors – a pressure-sensitive ion channel – that is found in both the nerve endings and internal organs of the skin. The ion channel was named Piezo1, then the closely related protein Piezo2 was found. “The discoveries were the starting point for a rapid development which means that we now understand how sensations of heat, heat, cold and various mechanical stimuli can arise in our nervous system. The award-winning discoveries of the laureates have thereby explained a fundamental part of our ability to perceive the environment “, the Nobel Assembly writes in a press release.