Credit: iStock “Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. … Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. … If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.” —David, … Continue reading Touching a Nerve: Piezo Receptors
Nobel Prize
Spotlight On: Smell
Credit: iStock Each time we stop to smell the roses, we should thank our sense of smell (olfaction) that allows us to detect airborne chemicals (odors) from the environment. Olfaction is one of the ancient senses used by animals to monitor the external environment. Although olfactory systems vary in different animals—insects, for example, use antennae, … Continue reading Spotlight On: Smell
Insulin: 100 Years of Saving Lives
Credit: iStock Elizabeth Hughes weighed a mere 45 pounds when she walked into the clinic of Frederick Banting, MD, on August 16, 1922. It was three days before her 15th birthday. Since her diagnosis with what today we call type 1 diabetes, Elizabeth had been strictly adhering to a starvation diet, the only available treatment … Continue reading Insulin: 100 Years of Saving Lives
Why ‘Physiology’ Is Important to the Nobel Prize Name
Many physiologists and physicians around the world look forward to the first week of October. It’s not the crisp, cool autumn air or the promise of enjoying one more pumpkin spice latte before they disappear from coffeeshops that beckons, although those things are nice too. It’s the anticipation of learning what top scientific research has … Continue reading Why ‘Physiology’ Is Important to the Nobel Prize Name
How Is the Nobel Prize Chosen?
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine will be awarded on October 7, kicking off a weeklong celebration of groundbreaking achievement in medicine or physiology, physics, chemistry, literature, global peace and economics. We at the American Physiological Society (APS) eagerly await this time of the year too. Physiologists have been well-represented in the long list … Continue reading How Is the Nobel Prize Chosen?
The Proof Is in the Papers: APS’s Long History with the Nobel Prize
Last month, Yoshinori Ohsumi of the Tokyo Institute of Technology was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Dr. Ohsumi won for his research in autophagy, the mechanism that cells use to break themselves down—an essential function in all cells. The Nobel Prize, arguably the most prestigious award in the life sciences, was … Continue reading The Proof Is in the Papers: APS’s Long History with the Nobel Prize