U.S. Researchers Share 2004 Nobel Prize
They discovered genes that give rise to a huge variety of "receptor" proteins that sense particular odors. These proteins are found in cells in the nose, which communicate with the brain.
Axel, 58, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Columbia University in New York, shared the prize with Buck, 57, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
They reported the gene discoveries jointly in 1991 and have since worked independently shedding further light on the olfactory system.
The Nobel assembly said the sense of smell "helps us detect the qualities we regard as positive. A good wine or a sun ripe wild strawberry activates a whole array of odorant receptors."
Told of his honor, Axel told Swedish public radio: "That's really marvelous, I'm so honored."
When asked if he had thought about becoming a Nobel laureate, he replied: "No, this is nothing I have been thinking about, I think about my science."
Asked what he would do first, he replied: "I'm going to have a cup of coffee."
Buck did not immediately return a call to the cancer center, but center spokeswoman Susan Edmonds said, "How wonderful! That's exciting."
Academy members tell The Associated Press that the decision to give the pair the award was not in light of any medical or commercial payoffs, but rather to honor their exploration of one of the humanity's most profound senses.
Axel and Buck clarified the intricate biological pathway from the nose to the brain that lets people sense smells. A whiff of an odor brings a mix of different molecules into the nose, where each molecule activates several odor receptors. This pattern of activation is interpreted by the brain, letting people recognize and form memories of about 10,000 different odors, the Nobel Assembly said.
Axel and Buck studied mice, which have about 1,000 odor receptor types. People have somewhat fewer.
There are no set guidelines for deciding who wins. Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite who endowed the awards that bear his name, simply said the winner "shall have made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine."
The Nobel Assembly at Stockholm's Karolinska Institutet, which selects the medicine prize winner, invites nominations from previous recipients, professors of medicine and other professionals worldwide before whittling down its choices in the fall.
Last year's prize winners were Briton Sir Peter Mansfield and American Paul C. Lauterbur for discoveries that led to the development of MRI, which is used by doctors to get a detailed look into their patients' bodies.
The award for medicine opens a week of Nobel Prizes that culminates Oct. 11 with the economics prize. The peace prize, the only one bestowed in Oslo, Norway, will be announced Oct. 8. The physics award will be announced Tuesday and the chemistry prize will be announced Wednesday in the Swedish capital.
A date for the Nobel Prize in literature has not yet been set by the Swedish Academy, but is likely to fall on Thursday, Nobel watchers said.
The awards always are presented on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896.
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