What does odor mean in science

Two major plant divisions are covered: the angiosperms and the gymnosperms. Read More. A sensory system is a part of the nervous system consisting of sensory receptors that receive stimuli from the internal and external environment, neural pathways that conduct this information to the brain and parts of the brain that processes this information.

Know the different sensory systems of the human body as elaborated by this tutorial The gastrointestinal system breaks down particles of ingested food into molecular forms by enzymes through digestion and then transferred to the internal environment by absorption. Find out more about these processes carried out by the gastrointestinal system through this tutorial Scientists discover the gene that causes the smell of the earth and leads camels to water.

Sense Organs in Insects. What's that smell? Retrieved November 12, from www. Imaging shows that brain's response to odors Upon the binding of a ligand, a receptor will initiate a chain of events that elicits a response. Our olfactory system depends on approximately ScienceDaily shares links with sites in the TrendMD network and earns revenue from third-party advertisers, where indicated. Print Email Share. Boy or Girl? Some people have no sense of smell, or they lose it during their lifetime.

This is called anosmia. When we lose our sense of smell it can have a big impact on our psychological wellbeing. A large portion of the human genome is taken up with the olfactory receptor gene family.

That is quite an incredible fact. For a sense that has often been dismissed, we have actually vested a lot of our genetic code in it. Not so surprising when we consider that it is usually our first line of defence. Olfactory receptors were once thought to be localised to a small area within the nose, but in recent years they have been detected all over the body; from muscles, kidneys, liver, lungs and even blood vessels.

Why do we need to smell things inside our bodies? Perhaps these receptors have a basic function to play in many parts of the body. Olfactory receptors are sensitive chemical receptors; they detect changes in chemical concentrations.

It is likely that they act in a similar manner in other parts of the body, detecting the presence of certain chemicals, or the changes in their concentrations. Olfactory receptors have even been found in human sperm. Who knew that smell had such an important role to play in the inception of life itself!

Naomi is a science communicator and mother to three inquisitive children. She can be found at sciencewows. The best food, health, entertainment and lifestyle content from the irishexaminer.

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