Unique smelling point

YOUR body odour is so distinctively individual that it may be used to identify you in future as a sort of fragrant fingerprint, predict scientists at Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia.

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.

The investigators told a meeting of the American Chemical Society last month that chemical sensors could be developed that would offer early detection of diseases.

The science could even be used to discover your true biological age, a study of 25 volunteers by Monash University in Melbourne said. Their research, reported in the British Journal of Dermatology, found that the chemical profile of people's underarm scent changes as they grow older.

Dumping Mr Dumb

SMARTER wives ditch their hubbies, according to Australian research.

Women who are better educated than their spouses are ten times more likely to separate or to get divorced than women who are equally or less educated than their husbands, an Australian National University report concludes.

The lowest rate of separation was seen in couples where both had gone on to higher education.

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.”

Examing heights scaled

ALL those hours spent making Junior practise scales could pay off significantly in exam scores, says a study of 59 children.

Predictably, the Harvard University tests of children aged between 8 and 11 found that the musicallytrained ones had more discriminate hearing and better dexterity. Less predictably, the musical youths also scored higherin tests of verbal ability and visual intelligence.

The harder the child had studied their instrument, the better the results, says the study in PLoS One.

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.

Way too lippy

WINTER looms, and so does an unexpected seasonal ailment: lip-balm addiction. Dr Marcia Driscoll, a dermatology professor at the University of Maryland, cautions in the Baltimore Sun this week that the dependency is growing - thanks in part to overuse of irritant chemicals in lipsticks. If you fear you're going balmy, you might try visiting Lip Balm Anon, at www.kevdo.com/lipbalm

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