Together, the findings demonstrate that Ggamma13 is essential for mammals to smell odors and extend the current understanding of
how olfactory receptor cells communicate information about odors to the brain.
Researchers had long assumed that contaminants like TCA activate nerve cells involved in smell
called olfactory receptor cells (ORCs), although they have not been able to explain how even extremely low concentrations of the molecule produce the corked odor.
Looking at this from a scientific angle, Dr Chua Hui Li, resident veterinarian at the Pet Resource Centre,
says olfactory receptor cells are largely at play here.
Source: «
Olfactory Receptor Cells May Provide Clues to Psychiatric Disease» (March 1 2005).
One canine trainer told the Australian Broadcasting Company that if you took all
the olfactory receptor cells out of a human and spread them with a butter knife, you would get a smear the size of a first - class stamp.