#  Cracking the Code of ‘What the Nose Knows’ 

 





May 21, 2026

 

 

   ![Headshots of Catherine Dulac and Xiaowei Zhuang](/sites/g/files/omnuum12196/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/2026-05/Dulac%20Zhuang.png?itok=nHqrYAA6) 

 

Mice rely on odors to find mates, avoid predators, identify food sources, and recognize their own pups. Yet how those crucial scents are organized — and understood by the brain — has remained mysterious. A recent [study published in *Cell*](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867426003892?via%3Dihub), jointly led by Senior Fellows [Catherine Dulac](https://brain.harvard.edu/?people=catherine-dulac) (pictured left), Xander University Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and [Xiaowei Zhuang](https://www.chemistry.harvard.edu/people/xiaowei-zhuang) (pictured right), David B. Arnold Jr. Professor of Science in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, created the most comprehensive map to date of how the primary olfactory system detects and organizes social and predator odors.

Read the full article [here](https://current.fas.harvard.edu/stories/cracking-code-what-nose-knows?utm_source=FAS+Reporter+2025-2026&utm_campaign=dd74517ada-FASREPORTER_05_08_2026_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f4ed756ab6-dd74517ada-443495683).

Center graphic is courtesy of Bogdan Bintu, Ph.D. ’21/Dulac Lab, Zhuang Lab



 

 

 



 

 

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