Matthew Moore
Telegraph
November 10, 2008
Every person has a unique fragrance, similar to a fingerprint or DNA sample, which could be used to create a database of human scents, scientists said.
- A d v e r t i s e m e n t
- show_banners()
Eating powerful foods such as chili or garlic may change how we smell, but it does disguise our underlying genetically-determined aroma, tests on mice have shown. Creatures who were given strong-smelling foods were still recognised by their peers.
The signature smells may have evolved to help in choosing mates and marking out territories.
Jae Kwak, lead author of the study at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, said that the research suggested that “odourprinting” could soon have a practical use.
“These findings indicate that biologically based odourprints, like fingerprints, could be a reliable way to identify individuals,” he said.
“If this can be shown to be the case for humans, it opens the possibility that devices can be developed to detect individual odourprints in humans.”
Loading ...
