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How many working olfactory receptor genes do humans have?
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olfactory system
Sagittal view of the human nasal cavity.
Humans possess approximately 1,000 genes in the olfactory gene family, which is the largest known family of genes in the human genome. However, only about 350 of these genes encode working olfactory receptors. The remaining genes are nonfunctional pseudogenes, a pool that evidence suggests is increasing in humans.12