Exploring the Unseen Dimensions of Olfaction Through Human Perception
The science of smell is entering a transformative era. In a recent perspective published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Pritish Kumar Varadwaj explores how the convergence of human olfactory perception and artificial intelligence is opening entirely new dimensions in our understanding of smell. Rather than viewing olfaction merely as a […]
The Future of Diagnosis May Be Right Under Our Nose
For centuries, physicians relied on their senses, including smell, to identify disease. Distinct odors associated with conditions such as diabetes, liver disease, infections, and metabolic disorders often provided valuable clinical clues long before laboratory tests existed. With the rise of modern analytical technologies, however, olfactory diagnosis largely disappeared from mainstream medicine. A recent review by […]
The Scent of Risk: How Loss of Smell May Signal Future Heart Disease
Poor olfaction may be more than a sensory deficit. A recent population-based cohort study by Keran W. Chamberlin and colleagues investigated 5,142 older adults from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study and found that impaired smell function was associated with a higher risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD). Participants with poor olfactory performance, […]
The Nose Knows: How Smell Shapes Metabolism, Appetite, and Human Health
Recent research highlighted by Manoel et al. redefines the sense of smell as far more than a sensory tool for flavor perception, positioning it instead as a key regulator of metabolism, appetite, and overall health. Food odors activate olfactory receptors that communicate with brain regions involved in hunger, reward, and energy balance, including the hypothalamus […]
Breathing Scents, Balancing Minds: How Odors Shape Autonomic Harmony
Breathing Scents, Balancing Minds: How Odors Shape Autonomic Harmony. Emerging research is reshaping our understanding of olfaction—not just as a sensory gateway to the world of smells, but as a powerful regulator of brain–body interactions. The review “Beyond breathing: multimodal pathways connecting olfaction to autonomic nervous system modulation” emphasizes that odors do more than evoke […]
Orbitofrontal Nexus: Mapping the Neural Landscape of Olfactory Dysfunction
Olfactory dysfunction affects over 20% of the global population, yet its neural underpinnings remain incompletely understood. This systematic review (Huang et al., 2026) synthesizes findings from 164 studies screened under PRISMA guidelines, encompassing structural MRI, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), functional MRI, PET/SPECT, dopamine transporter imaging, and EEG. Structural MRI consistently demonstrated reduced olfactory bulb volume […]
Smelling Machines: The Rise of Biohybrid Organoid-Robot Olfaction
The article Biohybrid organoid-robot sensing for olfaction intelligence (Nan Jiang et al., Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2026) presents a transformative leap in artificial olfaction. Researchers developed a biohybrid organoid-robot (BOR) system that integrates organoid-based olfactory sensors with robotic platforms, enabling machines to detect, decode, and respond to odor signals. Unlike traditional electronic noses, organoid-derived sensors harness […]
ORTRD: A Database for Human Olfactory Receptor and Transcription Factor Interactions
ORTRD contains detailed information on human OR genes, associated TFs, regulatory signs, log2 Fold Changes (log2FC), and TF binding motifs. Interactions can be visualized as signed directed graphs that represent activation or repression relationships within Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs). Users can query the database to retrieve and download specific data subsets for customized analyses. By […]
Digital Olfaction Society (DOS) 2026 Conference
The Digital Olfaction Society (DOS) 2026 Conference is opening its doors to groundbreaking research and innovation in the field of smell science. Scheduled to take place on December 3–4, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan, this international event will bring together scientists, engineers, and industry leaders to explore the future of olfaction technologies. The conference emphasizes the […]
EMBO Practical Course on Integrative Modelling of Biomolecular Interactions (26–30 April 2027, Athens, Greece)
The upcoming EMBO Practical Course on Integrative Modelling of Biomolecular Interactions (26–30 April 2027, Athens, Greece) promises to be a landmark training event for scientists eager to explore the dynamic world of biomolecular systems. Hosted at the National Hellenic Research Foundation, the course blends cutting-edge computational methods with experimental data to move beyond static structural […]