Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Review Article
  • Published:

Dollars and scents: commercial opportunities in olfaction and taste

Nature Neuroscience volume 5, pages 1043–1045 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Research successes over the past decade have provided a broad outline of the neuroscience of olfaction and taste. Our understanding of these systems now spans the molecular to the psychological. It will soon reach critical mass and begin to generate a variety of practical applications with commercial potential. Given the ubiquity of smell and taste and their importance to health, nutrition and quality of life, these applications could have a major impact on consumer product markets and create entirely new ones. Sensory biotechnology could be the first post-genomic application to break through to the consumer market. We describe odor modulation technologies with implications for food intake, health care and other arenas. Our deeper understanding of olfaction and taste in animal behavior and reproduction provides opportunities in pest control and animal husbandry, where environmentally neutral interventions are much in demand.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Examples of possible odor modulation technologies.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Buck, L. & Axel, R. A novel multigene family may encode odorant receptors: a molecular basis for odor recognition. Cell 65, 175–187 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Mombaerts, P. Seven-transmembrane proteins as odorant and chemosensory receptors. Science 286, 707–711 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Glusman, G., Yanai, I., Rubin, I. & Lancet, D. The complete human olfactory subgenome. Genome Res. 11, 685–702 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Zozulya, S., Echeverri, F. & Nguyen, T. The human olfactory receptor repertoire. Genome Biol. 2, research0018.1–0018.12 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Malnic, B., Hirono, J., Sato, T. & Buck, L.B. Combinatorial receptor codes for odors. Cell 96, 713–723 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Nelson, G. et al. Mammalian sweet taste receptors. Cell 106, 381–390 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Chandrashekar, J. et al. T2Rs function as bitter taste receptors. Cell 100, 703–711 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Montmayeur, J.P., Liberles, S.D., Matsunami, H. & Buck, L.B. A candidate taste receptor gene near a sweet taste locus. Nat. Neurosci. 4, 492–498 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Nelson, G. et al. An amino-acid taste receptor. Nature 416, 199–202 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Chaudhari, N., Landin, A.M. & Roper, S.D. A metabotropic glutamate receptor variant functions as a taste receptor. Nat. Neurosci. 3, 113–119 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Zhao, H. et al. Functional expression of a mammalian odorant receptor. Science 279, 327–242 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Wysocki, C.J., Pierce, J.D. Jr. & Gilbert, A.N. in Smell and Taste in Health and Disease (eds. Getchell, T. V., Bartoshuk, L. M., Doty, R. L. & Snow, J. B. Jr.) 287–314 (Raven, New York, 1991).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Wysocki, C.J. & Beauchamp, G.K. Ability to smell androstenone is genetically determined. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81, 4899–4902 (1984).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Segal, N.L., Topolski, T.D., Wilson, S.M., Brown, K.W. & Araki, L. Twin analysis of odor identification and perception. Physiol. Behav. 57, 605–609 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Gilbert, A.N. & Kemp, S.E. Odor perception phenotypes: multiple, specific hyperosmias to musks. Chem. Senses 21, 411–416 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Jacob, S. & McClintock, M.K. Psychological state and mood effects of steroidal chemosignals in women and men. Hormones Behav. 37, 57–78 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Graham, C.A., Janssen, E. & Sanders, S.A. Effects of fragrance on female sexual arousal and mood across the menstrual cycle. Psychophysiology 37, 76–84 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Jacob, S., McClintock, M.K., Zelano, B. & Ober, C. Paternally inherited HLA alleles are associated with women's choice of male odor. Nat. Genet. 30, 175–179 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Clyne, P. et al. A novel family of divergent seven-transmembrane proteins: candidate odorant receptors in Drosophila. Neuron 22, 327–338 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Vosshall, L.B., Amrein, H., Morozov, P.S., Rzhetsky, A. & Axel, R. A spatial map of olfactory receptor expression in the Drosophila antenna. Cell 96, 725–736 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sense of Smell Institute, 145 E. 32nd Street, New York, 10016-6002, New York, USA

    Avery N. Gilbert

  2. Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, 10027, New York, USA

    Stuart Firestein

Authors
  1. Avery N. Gilbert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stuart Firestein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stuart Firestein.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gilbert, A., Firestein, S. Dollars and scents: commercial opportunities in olfaction and taste. Nat Neurosci 5 (Suppl 11), 1043–1045 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn937

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn937

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing