Chili peppers led scientists straight to the molecule that tells you something is hot

David Julius used capsaicin, the compound that makes chili peppers burn, to isolate the exact nerve-cell receptor that detects painful heat. Ardem Patapoutian separately found the receptors for touch and pressure. Their work, honoured with the 2021 Nobel Prize, revealed how the nervous system senses temperature and touch at the molecular level.

— Nobel Prize Committee, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021 — Karolinska Institute, 2021