(Phys.org) —If you're in the business of cracking codes, it would be pretty difficult to break into a security system that you don't even know is there. That's one of the advantages of molecular keypad locks, whose small ...
All senses must reckon with the richness of the world, but nothing matches the challenge faced by the olfactory system that underlies our sense of smell. We need only three receptors in our eyes to sense all the colors of ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 4, 2021
2
1931
As cells develop, changes in how our genes interact determines their fate. Differences in these genetic interactions can make our cells robust to infection from viruses or make it possible for our immune cells to kill cancerous ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jul 13, 2020
0
139
The human nose can distinguish one trillion different scents—an extraordinary feat that requires 10 million specialized nerve cells, or neurons, in the nose, and a family of more than 400 dedicated genes. But precisely ...
Biotechnology
Jan 9, 2019
1
53
The human nervous system is like a complex circuit board. When wires cross or circuits malfunction, conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder can arise.
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 1, 2017
0
100
(Phys.org)—The market value for deuterated drugs has recently been estimated at over a billion dollars. Such drugs are simply molecules in which one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced with deuterium. While these kinds ...
(Phys.org)—The predictive power and galvanizing influence that theoretical models routinely enjoy in physics is only rarely replicated in biology. Lord Raleigh's theory of sound perception, Francis Crick's sequence and ...
The vibrational theory of olfaction explains several aspects of odorant detection that theories based purely on receptor binding do not. It provides for additional selectivity through receptors that are tuned to specific ...
Vanderbilt biologists have discovered that mosquito sperm have a "sense of smell" and that some of same chemicals that the mosquito can smell cause the sperm to swim harder.
Plants & Animals
Feb 3, 2014
0
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Birds are known more for their senses of vision and hearing than smell, but new research suggests that millions of years ago, the winged critters also boasted a better sense for scents.
Archaeology
Apr 13, 2011
7
118
