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  • From: Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Re: Notes From The Farm
  • Date: Mon, 06 Dec 2004 18:47:59 -0800

Here's an excerpt from a longer article, and a URL for another article:

The vibration theory was first proposed by G. M. Dyson in 1937. He proposed that a receptor in the nose detects the vibrations of odorant molecules, which the brain interprets as odours. He went on to suggest that the brain should therefore be able to interpret patterns of firing of vibrationally tuned detectors as odours. His theory was taken up by Robert Wright (principally funded by the British Columbia Research Council) who claimed to have found correlations between infrared spectra and odour in the 1960s and 1970s. Nevertheless, one of the weaknesses of Dyson's theory was that it did not explain how a receptor might sense vibration.

Such a mechanism has now been provided by Luca Turin at University College London. He proposes the presence of an electric potential gap in the receptor proteins, with NADPH and zinc ions providing the 'electrodes'. Electrons cannot cross the gap unless an odorant molecule is placed between these electrodes. In order to cross the gap the electrons must lose energy, which they do by tunnelling through the orbitals of the odorant molecule and exciting vibrational modes in it as a result. Thus Turin has moved the search for correlations from infrared to inelastic electron tunnelling spectra.


http://www.sciencebase.com/elemsmell.html



Marie McHarry wrote:

Lynda queries:

<<Now, just for musings, if it is wiggle that causes the smell, how come
almond is one of those odors/smells that some folks don't smell? Are they
"immune" to wiggle?>>

Hmmm, I hadn't thought about the biochemistry of smell in years, but this
conversation has tweaked some dormant brain cells (of which I have plenty).
The theory of smell with which I'm familiar is that noses have molecular
receptors (just as the tongue does for taste). When an airborne molecule
wafts up your nose and hits a receptor, you interpret the hit as odor. Using
this theory, it's easy to understand that a person missing a given receptor
would also miss the smell associated with it.

How are people supposed to detect the wiggle?

Marie

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