Smelling and tasting their way to the top

A nine-foot-tall golden nose and mouth greet visitors who enter the Monell Chemical Senses Center on Market Street.

Founded in 1968 with funding from the Ambrose Monell Foundation, the center is "the largest and most well-known research center that is devoted to the study of taste and smell," according to Leslie Stein, a senior research associate and spokeswoman.

Researchers at the multidiscplinary research center study all aspects of the functions of taste and smell ranging from the impact of outside environmental factors to the neuroscience and molecular biology of human sensory tissues.

"We study the senses of taste and smell ... from every level from genetic up to perceptual," Stein said.

Originally founded as part of Penn, the center located in the University City Science Center became independent of the University in the late 1970s.

"It was a little difficult at the time to ensure that the institution here, which is interdisciplinary, fit into the departmental structure at Penn," said Director Gary Beauchamp.

However, the research institute still maintains a close relationship with the University.

Four of the eight members who serve on Monell's board of directors are associated with Penn, including former University president Martin Meyerson.

Many of the senior staff also have adjunct appointments to teach in various schools at Penn. Some students have work-study jobs at the center and even participate as test subjects in studies.

The center currently has around 120 employees working in the 60,000-square-foot, five-story building. The center is in the process of expanding its facilities, having already occupied the adjacent building.

The center has close ties to the corporate world. It does not conduct product testing for companies, but it allows companies to get an inside peak at its knowledge.

Stein said that a wide range of companies are interested in Monell's work because it "heavily impacts" the food and beverage, fragrance and personal products and agricultural and pet food industries, among others.

Over 50 companies from around the world interested in the studies at the Monell Center pay an annual grant and, in return, have access to the knowledge and information that the scientists produce.

"It's a very interesting type of relationship," Stein said. "We've shown that it can be done and it can be done in a way that really doesn't violate our integrity as scientists."

Michelle Gallagher, a postdoctoral fellow at Monell and Penn graduate, says she finds the work very interesting.

"It's really different than what I've done in grad school," Gallagher said. "It's given me a lot of opportunity to see different kinds of research in the chemosensory field."

Gallagher is currently studying skin odor to see if there is a way to determine normal skin odorants in healthy populations. If so, this could be a method of detecting early signs of skin cancer in a non-invasive way.

Members of the Penn community have also participated in research studies as test subjects. Students are compensated in amounts ranging from $5 for a simple 30-minute test to hundreds of dollars for studies that require a longer amount of time.

One such example of a study involving human subject testing is a recent project designed to discover whether there is a genetic influence on a person's perception of bitter taste.

A group of test subjects were asked to taste various bitter solutions and then rated them on a scale of how strong or intense they were. Researchers then took a cheek swab and analyzed DNA samples to determine the relationship between genetics and the perception of taste. They found that there was a direct correlation between a person's genetic makeup and how that person reacted to bitter substances.

Some Penn students play the role of researcher, too.

College senior Stephanie Ihnow completed her honors thesis for her biological basis of behavior major at Monell. Ihnow studied the liver energy metabolism of rats and how it might shed light on obesity.

"I found the research that they perform ... is very applicable to life," Ihnow said. "I know there's a huge obesity epidemic, so I found that interesting."

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