Experiments to Test How and Why the Sense of Smell Differs Between People

Completed

Conditions studied: Specific Anosmias

In brief

The ability to smell varies greatly between different individuals. Some people are unable to detect an odor that most people can smell. It is not known what causes these individual differences. Humans have about 1000 genes for odorant receptors that bind and detect odor molecules. It has been shown that some of these genes exist in two forms: a functional one and one that has been mutated and is therefore no longer functional. We think that people who can not smell a specific odor may carry the non-functional form of the gene for the receptor that detects the odor molecule. To test this hypothesis we want to find people who can not detect a specific smell and then compare their odorant receptor genes with those of people who can smell the odor.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT00220038

Run by

Rockefeller University

People needed

500

Starts

2004-05-01

Expected to finish

2010-05-01

Last updated by the study team

2012-01-11

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• 18 years or older,
• Male and Female
• Normal sense of smell

You may not qualify if…

• Not pregnant
• No history of nasal illness or surgery
• No seasonal allergies-

Where it is running

• Rockefeller University Hospital — New York, New York, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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