FOR a typical British bloke, the Friday night vindaloo is the ultimate show
of macho prowess. But even a hardened curry-guzzler would be knocked off his
perch by a humble chicken—because the birds are immune to a chilli’s
punch. Now Sven-Eric Jordt and David Julius at the University of California, San
Francisco, have worked out why.
In mammals, a chemical in chilli called capsaicin binds to a receptor called
VR1 and triggers pain. Chickens have a similar receptor, but it’s much less
sensitive to capsaicin because of a difference at the binding site
(Cell, vol 108, p 421). And…
