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Genetic Variant Linked to Liking or Disliking of Male's Body Odour
Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that genetic variants of odour receptors within the nose decide how a particular odour is perceived.
The researchers focused on two chemicals, androstenone and androstadienone, which are produced naturally by the body during the breakdown of the male sex hormone testosterone and are excreted in sweat and urine.
“We found that genetic variations of a specific odour receptor determine, to a significant degree, why the same chemicals smell pleasant or unpleasant to different people,” Nature quoted Duke’s Hiroaki Matsunami, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, as saying.
“These results demonstrate the first link between the functioning of a human odour receptor gene and how that odour is perceived,” Prof Matsunami added.
Humans have about 400 odour receptors within the nose that perceive various odours or chemicals. Smells typically attach to their respective receptors, and the information is then sent to the brain for processing.
The researchers wanted to unveil why people respond differently when they smell these two sex steroid-derived chemicals. Hanyi Zhuang, a student in the Matsunami laboratory, tested all the known smell receptors and identified one that reacted strongly with the two chemicals.
Collaborating with Rockefeller University professors, the researchers asked 391 volunteers to inhale the two chemicals and explain what they smelled.
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