Chemical Senses: From Genes to Perception

Keystone Symposia, Silverthorne CO

Investigators

Abstract

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is to request support for a Keystone meeting entitled "Chemical Senses: From Genes to Perception", which will be held in Snowbird, Utah from January 21-25, 2007. The chemical senses - taste and smell - have been revolutionized by molecular biology since Buck and Axel's discovery of odorant receptors in 1991. We have now a nearly complete description of the repertoires of chemosensory receptor genes in several vertebrate and invertebrate species. The enormous and exciting task faced by the field is how chemosensory circuits develop and how the mature brain perceives tastes and smells. A solution of these problems will require integrative and comparative approaches. Receptor-driven perspectives are rapidly taking over from more traditional analyses. We propose an integrative meeting about research on taste, smell and pheromones, in vertebrate and invertebrate systems, using imaging, modeling, molecular biology, genomics, physiology, and developmental studies. Increasing evidence suggests that there are common anatomical and molecular themes in how chemical cues are detected and interpreted. This symposium focuses on all aspects of the major chemical senses, with investigators approaching the problem from diverse and creative vantage points. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]