Science is perception: what can our sense of smell tell us about ourselves and the world around us?
Science is perception: what can our sense of smell tell us about ourselves and the world around us?
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DOI：
10.1098/rsta.2010.0117
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发表时间：
2010-08-13
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Brookes JC
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Brookes JC
人类的感觉过程是很好理解的：听觉、视觉，甚至可能是味觉和触觉--但我们不理解气味--难以捉摸的感觉。也就是说，对于其他人，我们知道什么刺激会引起什么反应，为什么以及如何反应。这些基本的问题没有在嗅觉科学的范围内得到回答；我们不知道关于…的分子是什么闻起来很香。我在这里报告嗅觉的现状理论，强调我们不知道的东西，并解释为什么将输入的感知斥为“过于主观”会成为不利于科学研究的障碍。我概述了当前和新的理论，该理论推测了一种基于量子力学现象的信号转导机制，被称为“刷卡”，这可能是有争议的，但却是可行的。我认为，这样的思路可能会回答一些问题，或者至少提出正确的问题。最重要的是，关于如何更好地理解小分子(10‘S原子)如何与大蛋白质(10 000’S原子)以一种对健康生活如此不可或缺的方式相互作用，我进行了联系和比较。这项工作的影响不仅对理解我们所有人使用的基本科学工具很重要，而且通常被认为是理所当然的，例如，它也是向理解药物和受体之间的通用机制更近一步。
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.
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影响因子：
64.5
作者：
Malnic, B;Hirono, J;Buck, LB
通讯作者：
Buck, LB
DOI：
10.1006/scel.1994.1009
发表时间：
1994-01-01
期刊：
Seminars in Cell Biology
影响因子：
--
作者：
Mori, Kensaku;Shepherd, Gordon M.
通讯作者：
Shepherd, Gordon M.
影响因子：
2
作者：
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通讯作者：
WRIGHT, RH
影响因子：
3.5
作者：
Turin, L
通讯作者：
Turin, L
影响因子：
3.7
作者：
KIRTLEY, J;SCALAPINO, DJ;HANSMA, PK
通讯作者：
HANSMA, PK