On Oct. 4, 2021, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian ‘for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch’.

Julius utilized capsaicin, a pungent compound from chili peppers that induces a burning sensation, to identify a sensor in the nerve endings of the skin that responds to heat. Ardem Patapoutian used pressure-sensitive cells to discover a novel class of sensors that respond to mechanical stimuli in the skin and internal organs. These breakthrough discoveries launched intense research activities leading to a rapid increase in our understanding of how our nervous system senses heat, cold, and mechanical stimuli.