Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discoveries on Touch and Thermal Receptors | Americans David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian were awarded

American scientist David Jules and the American of Lebanese and Armenian origin Patapoutien Ardem they won this monday the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discoveries on the way the nervous system perceives temperature and touch it.

Their “revolutionary discoveries” they have “enabled us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force can trigger nerve impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world,” reported the Nobel jury in Stockholm.

The discoveries of Julius and Patapoutian

Patapoutien used sensitive cells under pressure to find out a new class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli of the skin and internal organs.

Julius used capsaicin, a spicy compound in chili peppers that cause a burning sensation to identify a sensor in the nerve endings in the skin that respond to heat.

The knowledge provided by the research of the two laureates is used for the development of treatments in a wide variety of conditions, such as chronic pain.

Basically, their work, as explained by those responsible for this “important and profound discovery”, They explain how heat, cold and touch can trigger responses in the nervous system.

The other candidates for the Nobel Prize in medicine

Among the top contenders for this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine were messenger RNA vaccines, as well as researchers in cell adhesion, epigenetics or resistance to antibiotics and new forms of treatment in rheumatology.

Last year, the prize was awarded to three virologists for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus.

Nobel prizes still to be awarded

The Nobel Prize for Medicine is the first of the series of these prestigious awards, which will be followed over the days by those of Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace and finally that of Economy, next Monday.