Harvard Maps Organized Mouse Smell Receptors

Scientists at Harvard Medical School have uncovered the first detailed map of smell receptors in the mouse nose, revealing a highly organized structure that challenges decades-old assumptions about the sense of smell.

The study, published April 28, 2026, in the journal Cell, shows that more than 1,000 types of olfactory receptors are arranged in tight, overlapping horizontal stripes running from the top to the bottom of the nasal cavity. Previously, researchers believed these receptors were distributed randomly within the olfactory epithelium. Led by Sandeep Robert Datta, a professor of neurobiology in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, the team analyzed approximately 5.5 million neurons from over 300 mice using single-cell sequencing to identify receptor types and spatial transcriptomics to pinpoint their locations.

"Our results bring order to a system that was previously thought to lack order, which changes conceptually how we think this works," Datta said.

The map proved consistent across all mice examined and aligns precisely with corresponding organization in the olfactory bulb, the brain's primary smell-processing center. This mirroring suggests a...