However, several mechanistic aspects of sensory signaling in the vomeronasalorgan remain unclear.
2
The researchers said they bred female mice without a gene critical to the vomeronasalorgan's function.
3
The trpc2 gene encodes an ion channel involved in pheromonal detection and is found in the vomeronasalorgan.
4
But some scientists suspected that mammals could only detect pheromones with specialized sensory apparatus called the vomeronasalorgan, which humans don't have.
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It turns out female mice need the vomeronasalorgan to tell the sexes apart, just as males have in earlier studies, the researchers said.
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The vomeronasalorgan, found in the noses of some animals but not in people or higher primates, is a key processing center for pheromones.