Researchers at the Monell Center and collaborators have
identified a protein that is critical to the ability of mammals to smell. Mice
engineered to be lacking the Ggamma13 protein in their olfactory receptors were
functionally anosmic – unable to smell. The findings may lend insight into the
underlying causes of certain smell disorders in humans.
“Without Ggamma13, the mice cannot smell,” said senior
author Liquan Huang, PhD, a molecular biologist at Monell. “This raises the
possibility that mutations in the Ggamma13 gene may contribute to certain forms
of human anosmia and that gene sequencing may be able to predict some instances
of smell loss.”