Science is perception: what can our sense of smell tell us about ourselves and the world around us?

Human sensory processes are well understood: hearing, seeing, perhaps even tasting and touch-but we do not understand smell-the elusive sense. That is, for the others we know what stimuli causes what response, and why and how. These fundamental questions are not answered within the sphere of smell s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences physical, and engineering sciences, 2010-08, Vol.368 (1924), p.3491-3502
Main Author: Brookes, Jennifer C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atoms
Electron Tunnelling
Electrons
Humans
Locks
Molecules
Odorant
Odorants
Olfaction
Olfactory perception
Olfactory Perception - physiology
Olfactory Receptor
Quantum mechanics
Receptors
Receptors, Odorant - physiology
Review
Sensory perception
Signal Transduction
Smell - physiology
Swipe Card
Vibration
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Summary:Human sensory processes are well understood: hearing, seeing, perhaps even tasting and touch-but we do not understand smell-the elusive sense. That is, for the others we know what stimuli causes what response, and why and how. These fundamental questions are not answered within the sphere of smell science; we do not know what it is about a molecule that smells. I report, here, the status quo theories for olfaction, highlighting what we do not know, and explaining why dismissing the perception of the input as 'too subjective' acts as a roadblock not conducive to scientific inquiry. I outline the current and new theory that conjectures a mechanism for signal transduction based on quantum mechanical phenomena, dubbed the 'swipe card', which is perhaps controversial but feasible. I show that such lines of thinking may answer some questions, or at least pose the right questions. Most importantly, I draw links and comparisons as to how better understanding of how small (10's of atoms) molecules can interact so specially with large (10 000's of atoms) proteins in a way that is so integral to healthy living. Repercussions of this work are not just important in understanding a basic scientific tool used by us all, but often taken for granted, it is also a step closer to understanding generic mechanisms between drug and receptor, for example.
ISSN:1364-503X
1471-2962
1471-2962
DOI:10.1098/rsta.2010.0117