Their laboratory studies indicate that your body's underlying signature smell, or "odourprint", is not only unique to you, but it also defies being masked by smelly diets that are heavy in garlic and spices, says a report in the science journal PLoS One.
Jae Kwak, the lead author, says that humans' unique genetically determined "odourprints" may have evolved so that we could identify each other. It is well known that smell is the sense most closely linked to memory formation. It also plays a strong role in emotional bonding.
Kwak's laboratory tests show that even eating huge amounts of garlic can't mask the signature of the volatile organic compounds that you dispel into the air around you. He adds that this finding "may open the possibility that devices such as electronic sensors can be developed to detect individual odourprints in humans".
Human odourprint science may also lead us to new methods for diagnosing illnesses such as cancer, Monell Centre scientists have found. Researchers who sampled the air above skin-cancer basal cell tumours on 11 patients found a different profile of chemical compounds when compared with air located above the same skin sites on 11 healthy patients.
Winter blues gene
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD, or the winter blues) may be caused by a gene mutation in the eye that makes sufferers less sensitive to light, say Virginia University scientists.
Their study of 220 people found that those who have the mutation in a gene controlling melanopsin, a pigment in the eye, have a high risk of having SAD. The pigment, which is in the eye's photoreceptors, changes its structure as light hits it. The pigment seems to play a role in controlling hormone levels and sleep.
Nearly a third of people with SAD come from families with a history of the disorder, which strongly suggests a genetic link.
Ignacio Provencio, one of the study authors, says in the Journal of Affective Disorders that people with SAD "may require brighter light levels to maintain normal functioning during the winter months. We believe that the gene mutation could contribute to increasing this need."
Pickled protection
Spreading bacteria over hospital patients may keep bad infections at bay, suggest Swedish researchers. They wiped 50 patients' mouths with "good" bacteria - the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum - and found it worked as well as an antiseptic.
The study, by Lund University Hospital, suggests that probiotics may out-compete dangerous bacteria. It adds, in the journal Critical Care, that using Lactobacillus plantarum, which is normally found in pickled foods such as sauerkraut, should not cause drug-resistance among bad bugs.
Słowniczek
fragrant fingerprint - pachnący odcisk palców
emotional bonding - formowanie więzów emocjonalnych
dispel into the air around you - roztaczasz wokół siebie
keep bad infections at bay - powstrzymać szkodliwe infekcje
out-compete dangerous bacteria - pokonać niebezpieczne bakterie
