# Two Americans win Medicine Nobel for work on heat and touch Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2021-10-04 Category: NEWS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news Meta Title: American Scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian Win Meta Description: Julius and Patapoutian's groundbreaking research on skin receptors for temperature and touch leads to potential new pain treatments. Learn more here. URL: https://financedigest.com/two-americans-win-medicine-nobel-for-work-on-heat-and-touchhtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/2021-10-04t122650z1lynxmpeh930nkrtroptp4nobel-prize-medicine-1736837723834-compressed.jpg) By Johan Ahlander and Ludwig Burger STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -American scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday for the discovery of receptors in the skin that sense temperature and touch and could pave the way for new pain-killers. Their work, carried out independently, has helped show how humans convert the physical impact from heat or touch into nerve impulses that allow us to “perceive and adapt to the world around us,” the Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute said. This knowledge is being used to develop [treatments for a wide range of disease](https://www.financedigest.com/innovation-at-periodic-intervals-to-upscale-the-liver-disease-treatment-market.html "Innovation at periodic intervals to upscale the Liver Disease Treatment Market") conditions, including chronic pain. Patapoutian, who was born in 1967 to Armenian parents in Lebanon and moved to Los Angeles in his youth, [learnt of the news from his father](https://www.financedigest.com/this-lady-is-running-a-family-business-with-her-father-and-brother-heres-what-she-has-learnt-this-year.html "This lady is running a family business with her father and brother. Here’s what she has learnt this year") as he had been out of contact by phone. In science many times it is the things we take for granted that are of high interest,” he said of winning the more than century-old prize, which is worth 10 million [Swedish crowns](https://www.financedigest.com/dollar-edges-down-from-six-week-peak-swedish-crown-jumps.html "Dollar edges down from six-week peak, Swedish crown jumps") ($1.15 million). He is credited for finding the celular mechanism and the underlying gene that translates a mechanical force on our skin into an electric nerve signal. (For) us being in the field of sense, touch and pain, this was the big [elephant in room](https://www.financedigest.com/gdpr-and-cyber-security-the-elephant-herd-in-the-room.html "GDPR And Cyber Security: The Elephant Herd In The Room") where we knew they existed, we knew they did something very different,” he said. Patapoutian is a professor at Scripps Research, La Jolla, California, having previously done [research at the University](https://www.financedigest.com/bitcoin-nonprofit-bitgive-announces-research-collaboration-with-university-of-edinburgh.html "Bitcoin Nonprofit BitGive Announces Research Collaboration with University of Edinburgh") of California, San Francisco, and California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. New York-born Julius, 65, is a Professor at University of California, [San Francisco](https://www.financedigest.com/paul-jasper-joins-rimon-laws-san-francisco-office-as-partner.html "Paul Jasper joins Rimon Law’s San Francisco Office as Partner"), after earlier work at Columbia University, in New York. His findings on the skin’s sense of temperature were based on how certain cells react to capsaicin, the molecule that makes chili peppers spicy by simulating a false sensation of heat. SURPRISE AND SHOCK The 2021 laureates were caught off guard, according to the committee. “They were incredibly happy and as far as I could tell very surprised and a little bit shocked,” said Professor Thomas Perlmann, Secretary-General for the Nobel Assembly and the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine. The prestigious [Nobel prizes](https://www.financedigest.com/nobel-physics-prize-goes-to-sleuths-of-spooky-quantum-science.html "Nobel physics prize goes to sleuths of ‘spooky’ quantum science"), for achievements in science, literature and peace, were created and funded in the will of Swedish dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel. They have been awarded since 1901, with the economics prize first handed out in 1969. The [Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine](https://www.financedigest.com/nobel-medicine-prize-goes-to-explorer-of-ancient-dna.html "Nobel medicine prize goes to explorer of ancient DNA"), shared in equal parts this year by the two laureates, often lives in the shadow of the Nobels for literature and peace https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/nobel-peace-prize-is-this-greta-thunbergs-year-2021-10-01, and their sometimes more widely known recipients. But medicine has been thrust into the spotlight by the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://www.financedigest.com/lessons-that-banks-and-financial-institutions-need-to-take-from-the-covid-19-pandemic.html "Lessons that Banks and Financial Institutions need to take from the Covid-19 Pandemic"), and some scientists had suggested those who developed coronavirus vaccines could be rewarded this year or in coming years. The pandemic continues to haunt the Nobel ceremonies, which are usually full of old-world pomp and glamour. The banquet https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/nobel-prize-banquet-postponed-again-this-year-due-pandemic-2021-09-23 in Stockholm has been postponed for a second successive year amid lingering [worries about the virus and international](https://www.financedigest.com/why-finance-needs-to-collaborate-to-get-rid-of-internal-worries.html "Why finance needs to collaborate to get rid of internal worries") travel. ($1 = 8.7272 [Swedish crowns)](https://www.financedigest.com/u-s-dollar-gains-ahead-of-fed-swedish-crown-falls-after-hike.html "U.S. dollar gains ahead of Fed; Swedish crown falls after hike") (Ludwig Burger reported from Frankfurt, Additional reporting Terje Solsvik in Oslo and by Niklas Pollard, Johan Ahlander, Simon Johnson, Supantha Mukherjee and Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm, Editing by Timothy Heritage) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---