Two California scientists win Nobel Prize for showing how we react to heat, touch

Nobel Committee member Patrik Ernfors, right, explains the work of California scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian, who won the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday. Ardem Patapoutian, a Lebanese immigrant who escaped civil war in his own country and became a masterful neuroscientist at Scripps Research in La Jolla, was chosen Monday to share the 2021 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for helping to discover cell receptors that enable people to sense heat, cold, pain, touch and sound. Photographer: Nancy Hong pic.twitter.com/44OCpRSTki — The Nobel Prize October 4, 2021 The Nobel committee said in a statement that the work of Patapoutian and Julius has “unlocked one of the secrets of nature by explaining the molecular basis for sensing heat, cold and mechanical force, which is fundamental for our ability to feel, interpret and interact with our internal and external environment.” The Academy added that prior to the breakthrough, “Our understanding of how the nervous system senses and interprets our environment still contained a fundamental unsolved question: How are temperature and mechanical stimuli converted into electrical impulses in the nervous system?” Peter Schultz, the chief executive officer of Scripps, said, “The Nobel Prize is wonderful recognition of these discoveries. I have followed Ardem’s career closely since he first came to Scripps Research and can say that he is an extraordinary scientist, mentor, and colleague and a wonderful person.” The research partners also won the 2020 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience for discovering how our bodies sense pressure, essential to our sense of touch and the function of cells in the heart and other organs.