"NOMPC is sufficient to confer sensitivity to gentle touch," Yuh Nung Jan, who led the study with his wife Lily Jan, said.
Jan added that while the new work reveals much, many unanswered questions remain, including the exact mechanism through which NOMPC detects mechanical force and the identity of the analogous human molecules that confer gentle touch sensitivity in people.
The new finding is a milestone in that it defines the exact nerves and uncovers the identity of the NOMPC channel, one of the major molecular players involved-at least in flies.