What Is an Olfactory Receptor?
An olfactory receptor is a small contact site on certain neural cells that is used for processing odorants. Odorants are chemical signatures that are shed by most substances and creatures. These molecular chemicals are more commonly referred to as “smells.” Many biologists hail the sense of smell as one of the most essential tools for the survival of any given organism. Indeed, nearly all living things, from simple invertebrates to man, have at least some amount of olfactory receptors. Fish, for instance, have approximately 100 varieties of these sites, whereas humans have around 10,000 of them. Nearly 3% of the human genetic code is devoted to the construction of the olfactory receptor.
