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We've all encountered them - malodorous individuals that give clear signs that we should have nothing to do with them. Sometimes Jesus has infested whole nations and cultures with BO, and the French come to mind with their obsession of nauseating perfumes and overly scented soaps.
Take away all the obfuscating "scientific" names like "Staphylococcal bacteria", "enzymes", "chemical 3M3SH", "pheromones" and "precursor molecule", and we wind up with what we've known all along - demons.
In much the same way that rectal demons are the cause of homerism, BO demons have the potential to drive many to sin unless cleansed (Numbers 8:21) and Saved® by Jesus.
Take away all the obfuscating "scientific" names like "Staphylococcal bacteria", "enzymes", "chemical 3M3SH", "pheromones" and "precursor molecule", and we wind up with what we've known all along - demons.
In much the same way that rectal demons are the cause of homerism, BO demons have the potential to drive many to sin unless cleansed (Numbers 8:21) and Saved® by Jesus.
Will a New Discovery About Body Odor Lead to Better Deodorants?
Biologists now understand a key part of the molecular process that results in body odor—and deodorants might just be able to disrupt it
By Emily Matchar
July 20, 2018
There’s nothing like being on a crowded subway in summer to make you consider body odor. Why do we smell in the first place? Why can some of us manage to get away with skipping a shower after the gym, while others reek after a quick walk to the park? And how does deodorant work (or not)?
. . . .
Recently, British researchers made a discovery that furthers our knowledge of bacteria and the odor producing process—a discovery that may one day lead to more effective deodorants. The biologists, at the University of York, found that several species of Staphylococcus bacteria cause the formation of the smelliest compounds. So a relatively small number of bacteria species cause an outsize portion of smelliness.
But how do these bacteria make unscented sweat compounds so smelly?
“We had discovered that a small number of bacteria were able to produce the odorous chemical 3M3SH from an odorless precursor molecule that we secreted from the axilla glands in our underarm,” says biologist Gavin Thomas, co-author of the study published in the journal eLife. “We wanted to figure out how these Staphylococcal bacteria were able to achieve this feat and have been trying to figure this out over the last few years.”
The team eventually decoded a key step in the process: the structure of the transport protein that allows bacteria to recognize and consume sweat compounds. Understanding this protein means that, in theory, new deodorants could be developed to interrupt the process. Since it’s only a relatively small number of bacteria that produce the worst smells, those bacteria could be targeted while the others are left alone.
“It is definitely helpful to have a more complete view of the biochemical, enzymatic and genetic background,” says Chris Callewaert, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Diego, who studies body odor, of the new research.
. . . .
As to why we smell in the first place, Thomas says, “It is possible that the same bacteria have co-evolved with Homo sapiens as part of a mechanism to produce volatile signaling molecules—pheromones to be more precise—with roles in sexual attraction and mate selection.”
. . . .
“Bad smell is associated with bad hygiene,” Callewaert says. “At the same time, people with body odor—and certainly the ones that are aware of it—will wash themselves much more, use lots of deodorant and will change their clothes very frequently. So it is not about bad hygiene, but about the microbiome. It is simply not well understood by the public.”
And it has not always been so taboo. Deodorants and antiperspirants have only existed relatively recently in human history. While people have been using perfumes for thousands of years, the first bacteria-killing deodorant wasn’t trademarked until 1888, and the first antiperspirant didn’t hit the scene until 1903. It took clever advertising campaigns to convince Americans that these products were necessary, emphasizing the humiliation and romantic rejection faced by the smelly. But the manufacturers had major hurdles to overcome before deodorants became the $18 billion industry they are today. After all, some of our fairly recent ancestors seemed to have rather enjoyed the smell of a ripe armpit.
As Thomas says, “I recall Napoleon supposedly writing to Josephine when returning from the battlefield, ‘I am coming home—don’t wash.’”
Biologists now understand a key part of the molecular process that results in body odor—and deodorants might just be able to disrupt it
By Emily Matchar
July 20, 2018
There’s nothing like being on a crowded subway in summer to make you consider body odor. Why do we smell in the first place? Why can some of us manage to get away with skipping a shower after the gym, while others reek after a quick walk to the park? And how does deodorant work (or not)?
. . . .
Recently, British researchers made a discovery that furthers our knowledge of bacteria and the odor producing process—a discovery that may one day lead to more effective deodorants. The biologists, at the University of York, found that several species of Staphylococcus bacteria cause the formation of the smelliest compounds. So a relatively small number of bacteria species cause an outsize portion of smelliness.
But how do these bacteria make unscented sweat compounds so smelly?
“We had discovered that a small number of bacteria were able to produce the odorous chemical 3M3SH from an odorless precursor molecule that we secreted from the axilla glands in our underarm,” says biologist Gavin Thomas, co-author of the study published in the journal eLife. “We wanted to figure out how these Staphylococcal bacteria were able to achieve this feat and have been trying to figure this out over the last few years.”
The team eventually decoded a key step in the process: the structure of the transport protein that allows bacteria to recognize and consume sweat compounds. Understanding this protein means that, in theory, new deodorants could be developed to interrupt the process. Since it’s only a relatively small number of bacteria that produce the worst smells, those bacteria could be targeted while the others are left alone.
“It is definitely helpful to have a more complete view of the biochemical, enzymatic and genetic background,” says Chris Callewaert, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Diego, who studies body odor, of the new research.
. . . .
As to why we smell in the first place, Thomas says, “It is possible that the same bacteria have co-evolved with Homo sapiens as part of a mechanism to produce volatile signaling molecules—pheromones to be more precise—with roles in sexual attraction and mate selection.”
. . . .
“Bad smell is associated with bad hygiene,” Callewaert says. “At the same time, people with body odor—and certainly the ones that are aware of it—will wash themselves much more, use lots of deodorant and will change their clothes very frequently. So it is not about bad hygiene, but about the microbiome. It is simply not well understood by the public.”
And it has not always been so taboo. Deodorants and antiperspirants have only existed relatively recently in human history. While people have been using perfumes for thousands of years, the first bacteria-killing deodorant wasn’t trademarked until 1888, and the first antiperspirant didn’t hit the scene until 1903. It took clever advertising campaigns to convince Americans that these products were necessary, emphasizing the humiliation and romantic rejection faced by the smelly. But the manufacturers had major hurdles to overcome before deodorants became the $18 billion industry they are today. After all, some of our fairly recent ancestors seemed to have rather enjoyed the smell of a ripe armpit.
As Thomas says, “I recall Napoleon supposedly writing to Josephine when returning from the battlefield, ‘I am coming home—don’t wash.’”
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