“Plants defend themselves by generating substances that cause pain to their predators”

On the occasion of receiving the 13th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine, biochemist David Julius explains in this interview how he identified the sensory receptors that detect temperature and pain, discovering proteins activated by natural compounds such as capsaicin in chili peppers, menthol, and wasabi. He emphasizes that these findings reveal the mechanisms of thermal and pain perception and open the way to developing new painkillers to treat different types of chronic pain with fewer side effects than current drugs.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine has gone in this thirteenth edition to David Julius, from the University of California, San Francisco, and Ardem Patapoutian, from the Scripps Institute, La Jolla (United States), “for identifying the receptors that enable us to sense temperature, pain and pressure.”