On Oct. 19, 2020, researchers annoounced they had discovered that a gene, called PIEZO2, may be responsible for the powerful urge to urinate that we normally feel several times a day. The results, published in Nature, suggest that the gene helps at least two different types of cells in the body sense when our bladders are full and need to be emptied. These results also expanded the growing list of newly discovered senses under the geneﾒs control.

The PIEZO2 gene contains instructions for making proteins that are activated when cells are stretched or squeezed. The National Institutes of Health funded the study that involved both mice and patients who were part of an NIH Clinical Center trial.