Olfaction

Olfaction, the sense of odor (smell), is the detection of chemicals dissolved in air (or, by animals that breathe water, in water). In vertebrates smells are sensed by the olfactory epithelium located in the nose and processed by the olfactory system.

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As discovered by Linda B. Buck and Richard Axel, mammals generally have about 1000 genes for odor receptors. Of these genes, only a portion code for functional odor receptors. Humans have 347 functional odor receptor genes; the other genes have nonsense mutations. This number was determined by analyzing the genome in the Human Genome Project; the number may vary among ethnic groups, and does vary among individuals. For example, not all people can smell amyl acetate (which smells like bananas).

Sense: :This article is about the senses of living organsims (vision, taste, etc.). For other uses of the term, see sense (disambiguation)....

Odor: An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English) is the object of perception of the sense of olfaction. Odors are also called smells. The term stench or pong is used to describe an unpleasant odor. The term fragrance or aroma is used primarily by the food and cosmetic industry to describe ...

Animal: :For the Muppet Show character, see Animal (Muppet). For the professional wrestler, see Joseph Laurinaitis....