Smelly Guy – Its Not Him Its You
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Smell is in the nose of the beholder. New research by scientists at Rockefeller University reveals that perception of smell is largely in part to a single gene. To some, a man can smell sweaty or of stale urine, while to others the same man can smell like sweet vanilla, and yet to about a third of others he will have no smell at all.
Photo James Hill
Androstenone is created when the body breaks down the male sex hormone testosterone — a powerful ingredient in male body odor — and can smell either like urine or vanilla depending on your genes. The extreme inconsistency in people’s perception of androstenone is due mostly to genetic variations in a single odor receptor called OR7D4. The research was published online September 16 in the journal Nature on September 16th.
Androstenone is found in higher concentrations in the urine and sweat of men than of women. Some animals use it to convey social and sexual information, but the ability to perceive androstenone’s scent could have far-reaching behavioral implications for people, reports Newswire Rockefeller.
Nearly 400 participants were involved in the study, for which 66 odors at 2 different concentrations were given, and asked to rate the pleasantness and intensity of each.
Leslie Vosshall, head of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior at Rockefeller University and Andreas Keller, a postdoc in her lab, collected blood samples from each participant and isolated their DNA to sequence the gene that encodes the OR7D4 receptor.
”With this large dataset, we are able to say that people who express different variants of this receptor perceive this odor differently.“ said Vosshall.
With their Duke University collaborators, Vosshall and Keller identified 2 variants of the odorant receptor — RT and WM, which differ by 2 amino acids. Participants with the RT genotype perceive androstenone’s odor as foul and intense. Those with the WM genotype perceive androstenone to smell like vanilla, while many can’t smell androstenone at all.
”There are two independent things that are interesting about this odor.“ said Keller. ”One is that it is a potential social signal but the other one is that so many people cannot smell it.“
Photo Sabinche
How androstenone works on people isn’t well understood, but for pigs it sends a strong sex signal that puts sows in the mood for love.
“It facilitates the courtship behavior in females.” said Matsunami of Duke University in North Carolina. “There is some evidence published showing this chemical can modify the mood or hormone levels in humans. What we don’t know is whether the receptor we found was in any way involved in this process.”
Two additional mutations in some of the participants affected their sensitivity to androstenone, one of which makes people hypersensitive to the odor. Vosshall and Keller want to know how these amino acid changes alter a person’s perception of androstenone’s scent, and whether or not it can influence behavior.
”Since some mammals clearly use androstenone to communicate sexuality and dominance within a social hierarchy, it’s intriguing to think whether the same thing may happen in humans.“ said Vosshall. ”If so, what happens to humans who can’t get the signal because they have the nonfunctional copy of the gene? Or the hyperfunctional one? What could be the social and sexual implications of this on one’s perception of the smell of fellow humans?”
Matsunami and colleagues will do further research to better understand how smelling androstenone might affect human social and sexual behavior.
Related stories:
Science of the Smell Factor
Science of the Sexual Attraction Factor
Oh yeah Mama! I love my men to smell manly.
It puts the oooo in the ooo lala if’n ya wanna know.
oooo baby!
Interesting study…..maybe I should become a pig
What ya think hahaha
I would also be curious at to whether various medications also affect our body odors, I guess that some of them must do as they are aimed at genetics to reduce the inflammation and pain in a multitude of conditions.
Colin, I ain’t touchin’ dat. I enjoy pigs although I wouldn’t want to live with one.
What I will say and hopefully I will say it gracefully and well enough to not cause offense.
Any medication that we ingest is adding chemicals into an inherent chemical system therefore there is a chemical exchange. It can and will effect our whole system. No chemical is able to isolate itself since it has entered the blood stream. Sometimes it causes problems to an individual yet every individual will have a different reaction, if any.
Hi MA, LOL I wouldn’t want to live with a pig either
I agree with what you say about meds we ingest…and obviously reactione will vary as we are all unique.
Hehehe, you crack me up Saboma
Colin, I say stick with what you’re good at, being a magician, although I’ve heard that pigs can make good, intelligent pets
As for chemicals ingested, no doubt they’d have an effect on the system that would be unique to the individual. Even colognes have a scent unique to each person due to their skin acidity, without even factoring in added chemicals.
well I don’t know ….I think I would rather live with a pig…than a person with smelly feet…….or wears Brut cologne…peeuuuwwww
Oooh, smelly feet … that’s a hard one to take. I didn’t know they still sold Brut, but it would be a close second
Hey Now!
Piglets are cute and have delightful little personalities. I’m sure that I’d rather bunk with a piglet than some human beings I’ve had the displeasure of meeting any day.
Moreover, there is a cure for stinky feet, however, there is no cure for Brute or worse, nasty Avon products except to make a socially incorrect statement to the offending person. Bleh. It takes my breath away–literally.
Yes, I’ve heard that ‘potbelly’ pigs make excellent pets! And I’m with you on that one that they can make for better company than some people
Haha, those colognes do more than take my breath away, they give me severe headaches. Especially spicy colognes, like Old Spice. 5 minutes with a person wearing something like that and it’s a full-blown migraine. Seriously.
From personal experience I can tell you this research is spot on. There is a cologne that I experimented with in my recently past. It’s called Pherlure Pheromone Cologne. It has the chemical Androstenone added to it. The cologne smells simular to a mix of Calvin Kline and Drakkar Noir. They tell you to use just 1 or 2 small spritzes. (or sprays)The little amount was barely perceptable to the nose. They advertize that it will arouse many woman.
Since I’m your typical testosterone filled mans-man who loves everything about the female of my species, I thought I’d try it. It was a dangerous mistake.
I never got hit on so many times than when I wore that cologne. It was amazingly scary. I had friends mothers hitting on me. The mail delivery gal started bringing the mail to my door instead of putting it in the mailbox.
Sudden interest from females who never seemed to have much to say.
Don’t get me wrong here, I like flirting. I like hanging out with woman and having fun. But this was too much. I’m no gigilo. I like monogamy. I comforted by my sense of Honor and morality. The cologne was tried out of a sense of experimentation. I definately didn’t want to start breaking hearts or “sealing the deal”. (if you know what I mean)
I threw the stuff in the garbage and went back to being “mild mannered Clark Kent”.
Shhhhh!!… I still keep my cape in the closet for special occasions.
“I still keep my cape in the closet for special occasions”
Sounds like a plan to me, Clark. I generally keep my broom in the closet yet, this time of year is the time when it’s at the mechanics trying to avoid the October crowd’s last minute rush to “git ‘er done“.
That’s wild Nitropuppy, you’re the first person I’ve known that’s ever used one of those colognes to be able to provide any kind of first hand experience. Bloody amazing, I didn’t think it would have such a potent reaction!
I’m with you, it just wouldn’t seem right, like a form of trickery. And what happens if you engage in a longer term relationship? How do you maintain that, and what happens should you run out and can’t replace it immediately? Do you suddenly become undesirable to your new mate?
Hehe, I won’t tell anyone about your closet secrets if you don’t
Too funny Saboma! Good on you for planning ahead