Olfactory receptors — also known as odorant receptors — are responsible for detecting smell. They start a cascade of chemical reactions in our bodies that create a nerve impulse; the nerve impulse travels to our brains, and from there, we’re able to detect smells. While many scientists haven’t been able to study them extensively (they’re extremely small), Linda B. Buck and Richard Axel won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on olfactory receptors in 2004.According to the passage, olfactory receptors