Characters / The Wharf

Serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine belong to a class of chemicals known as amines. There are many similar amines, called trace amines, that also occur naturally in the brain, and one of the proteins that detects them belongs to a grouping called TAARs. While that particular TAAR is not involved in smelling, other kinds of TAAR do occur in the nose, and have apparently been repurposed for smelling airborne amines, specifically fish and putrefaction.