http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Genes-may-determine-whos-on-the-nose/2007/09/17/1189881401412.html

When it comes to a man's body odour, the fragrance - or stench - is in the nose of the beholder, according to US researchers who suggest a single gene may determine how people perceive body odour.

The study, published online on Sunday in the journal Nature, helps explain why the same sweaty man can smell like vanilla to some, like urine to others and for about a third of adults, have no smell at all.

"This is the first time that any human odourant receptor is associated with how we experience odours," Hiroaki Matsunami of Duke University in North Carolina said in a telephone interview.

They took blood samples and sequenced the DNA of 400 people who participated in a smell perception test done in Leslie Vosshall's lab at Rockefeller.

What they found is slight genetic variations determine whether androstenone has a pungent smell, a sweet, vanilla-like smell or no smell at all.

The role of androstenone is not well understood in humans, but in pigs it sends a powerful sex signal that puts sows in the mood for love.

"It facilitates the courtship behaviour in females," Matsunami said.

"There is some evidence published showing this chemical can modify the mood or hormone levels in humans," he said. "What we don't know is whether the receptor we found was in any way involved in this process."

Ausnat wrote on Sep 20^th, 2007 at 8:08pm:



Is this really what you aspire to- making yourself look ugly and backward?

I think smell is linked to what a person eats.

Different diets give off an odour through the skin.

The same as different animals,like sheep and beef taste different if fed on different feed.

Some Greeks and Italians smell like salami mate, the odours come through the skin.