Two US scientists – David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian –have won the 2021 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for the discovery of receptors for temperature and touch.
Thomas Perlmann, secretary-general of the Nobel Committee, announced the names of the winners on Monday.
“Our ability to sense heat, cold and touch is essential for survival and underpins our interaction with the world around us. In our daily lives we take these sensations for granted, but how are nerve impulses initiated so that temperature and pressure can be perceived? This question has been solved by this year’s Nobel Prize laureates,” the Nobel Jury said in a statement.
“The groundbreaking discoveries… by this year’s Nobel Prize laureates have allowed us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force can initiate the nerve impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world,” the jury added.
BREAKING NEWS:
The 2021 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian “for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.” pic.twitter.com/gB2eL37IV7— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 4, 2021
“In our daily lives we take these sensations for granted, but how are nerve impulses initiated so that temperature and pressure can be perceived? This question has been solved by this year’s Nobel Prize laureates.”
Just in! New medicine laureate Ardem Patapoutian and his son Luca, watching the #NobelPrize press conference shortly after finding out the happy news.
Stay tuned for our interview with Patapoutian coming up soon!
Photographer: Nancy Hong pic.twitter.com/44OCpRSTki
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 4, 2021
David Julius, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Trustee, and Ardem Patapoutian, an HHMI Investigator at Scripps Research, have received the prestigious award for their work identifying receptors on sensory neurons that give human beings the ability to monitor temperature, pain, touch, and the location and movement of our body, the organisation said in a statement.
Cheers and congratulations to our newest medicine laureate David Julius!
Here Julius and his wife Holly Ingraham are celebrating his #NobelPrize with a cup of early morning coffee.
Photo: Holly Ingraham. pic.twitter.com/e3QhlUqaqv
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 4, 2021
Julius and Patapoutian will split the 10 million Swedish kronor (roughly $1.1 million) for this year’s prize.
The prize money comes from a bequest left by the founder of the prize, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895.
