Juvenile mice secrete a protective pheromone in their tears, blocking adult...
Nocturnal animals need their noses to stay alive. Mice, among others, depend on their impressive olfactory powers to sniff out food or avoid danger in the dark.
View ArticleScientists find insect DEET receptors, develop safe alternatives to DEET
Insects are repelled by N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, also known as DEET. But exactly which olfactory receptors insects use to sense DEET has eluded scientists for long. Now researchers at the University of...
View ArticleChemical passwords could lead to unbreakable molecular lock
(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...
View ArticleCaptive breeding for thousands of years has impaired olfactory functions in...
A new study on silkmoths revealed that the insects' ability to perceive environmental odors has been reduced after about 5,000 years of domestication by humans. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute...
View ArticleMosquito sperm have 'sense of smell'
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.
View ArticleScientists find distinctive patterns of olfactory receptors in fruit-eating bats
How do we smell? The answer lies in the 1,000 or so genes that encode what's known as olfactory receptors inside our noses.
View ArticleThe first insects were not yet able to smell well
An insect's sense of smell is vital to its survival. Only if it can trace even tiny amounts of odor molecules is it is able to find food sources, communicate with conspecifics, or avoid enemies....
View ArticleCombatting malaria using natural mosquito repellents
Repellents derived from Greek herb extracts show potent effects, as spatial repellents, against malaria carrying mosquitoes, and possibly others.
View ArticleOdor code for food is based on a few volatile substances
(Phys.org) —The actual flavor of a food is experienced through our sense of smell rather than with our tongue. However, of the large number of volatile compounds in foods, only about 230 are involved...
View ArticleElephants possess 'superior' sense of smell, study finds
Elephants possess a sense of smell that is likely the strongest ever identified in a single species, according to a study by Japanese scientists out Tuesday.
View ArticleOdor molecules monitor pest that spreads devastating citrus disease
The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) is an efficient vector of a bacterium that causes a lethal citrus disease, huanglongbing (HLB), one of the most destructive diseases of citrus worldwide.
View ArticleNasal immunity is an ancient adaptation of the mucosal immune system of...
(Phys.org) —Researchers at the University of New Mexico recently discovered an olfactory immune system in fish previously thought to be associated with terrestrial vertebrates only. The results could...
View ArticleHow does a machine smell? Better than it did
Every odor has its own specific pattern which our noses are able to identify. Using a combination of proteins coupled to transistors, for the first time machines are able to differentiate smells that...
View ArticleDesign and enantioselective synthesis of new Cashmeran odorants
When a perfume is said to include Cashmere Wood, it means the typical smell of the odorant Cashmeran. As described in the journal Angewandte Chemie, scientists from Switzerland and Germany have...
View ArticleFruit flies use olfactory cues to detect healthy antioxidants in their food
Antioxidants are natural food ingredients that protect cells from harmful influences. Their main task is to neutralize so-called "free radicals" which are produced in the process of oxidation and which...
View ArticlePicking up on the smell of evolution
UA researchers have discovered some of the changes in genes, physiology and behavior that enable a species to drastically change its lifestyle in the course of evolution.
View ArticleLeaf odor attracts Drosophila suzukii
In 2014, more spotted-wing Drosophila suzukii than ever before were observed in Germany. This pest lays its eggs in fresh and ripening fruits before they are harvested. Infested fruits are often...
View ArticlePlausibility of the vibrational theory of smell
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...
View ArticleOne simple molecule regulates sexual behavior in Drosophila
The common vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster is a very well-studied animal. For decades, the fly has been used as a model organism in genetic research; its genome was fully sequenced in 2000....
View ArticleCracking the function of the fly olfactory system to understand how neural...
If a banana is rotting in the fruit basket of your kitchen, chances are that a fruit fly will find it long before you do. How is the nervous system of a tiny fly capable of ascending the odour trail...
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