The Mystery of Smell

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We don't really know why one thing smells one way and why other things smell a different way. This is where the whole mystery of smell starts to be a big problem. We have in humans about 400 receptors with got potentially one trillion odor molecules that humans can respond to. So clearly, it can't be just a molecule receptor interaction. And there are definitely not a trillion different types of locks in your nose. There's only 400.

Dogs can smell cancer, Covid-19, and many other health problems in humans. Now, scientists are trying to duplicate these powers in robotic sniffers. But there’s a big challenge here: Scientists don’t really understand how smell works. This is the third episode of our six-part series, Making Sense, and it originally ran on March 10, 2021.

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