The 2021 Nobel Prize for Medicine crowned the American David Julius and the American of Lebanese-Armenian origin Ardem Patapoutian on Monday, two touch experts whose work paved the way for pain relief treatments.
David Julius, 65, professor at the University of California, and Ardem Patapoutian, professor at the Scripps research institute, also in California were awarded the prestigious 2021 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discoveries on temperature and touch receptors. to touch.
Thanks to their research, they “made it possible to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force can initiate the nerve impulses which allow us to perceive and adapt to the world”
Anne Marie Pinard and Yves de Koninck talk about the discovery HERE.
David Julius used capsaicin, the chemical in hot peppers that causes a burning sensation, to identify a sensor in nerve endings in the skin that reacts to heat. Ardem Patapoutian has discovered distinct pressure-sensitive sensors in cells that respond to mechanical stimulation of the skin and internal organs.
The 2021 Nobel Prize winners will receive a gold medal and 10 million Swedish kronor ($ 1.14 million). The prize money comes from an endowment left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895.
