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This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Karen Hopkins. This will just take a minute
A smell as a smell is a smell, cinnamon smells like cinnamon, skunk smells like skunk, and boys smell like... Well it depends on who you ask. This week scientists from Rockefeller University and Duke University announced that chemical present in high concentrations in the sweat of men can smell like vanilla or like urine, depending on the genetic makeup of the person during the sniffing. The discovery happened like this, researchers of Rockefeller have asked 400 people to assess the intensity and plasmas of 66 different odors including androsterone, a chemical in male's sweat. In the meantime, the Duke scientists have discovered the androsterone specifically activates smell receptors called OR74, so the researchers teamed up, the Rockefeller's scientists sent blood samples from their snuffers to Duke where researchers then looked into their receptors. People with one form of this smaller receptor find that androsterone smells flower intense while those with different form detector hinder the vanilla. And some can't smell it at all, which might be a blessing. Considering the other options, which are confusing if not downright off-putting.
Thanks for the minute for Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Karen Hopkins.
