The future’s fragrant
How British breakthrough could lead to the creation of a super-deodorant
IT is the one downside of the heatwave – the glorious sunshine leaves some people smelling less than fragrant.
But there is hope for commuters who have found themselves nestled uncomfortably under the armpits of strangers.
Scientists have a fresh insight into what creates body odour, and it could help produce a new generation of deodorants.
It is not sweaty people who smell bad, but the bacteria hiding in their moist armpits which react with odourless compounds in perspiration. Researchers at the universities of York and Oxford have now analysed a molecule, known as a transport protein, which allows the bacteria to hijack these compounds to create the stench.
The discovery gives them a blueprint to block the body odour without killing the bacteria, which may be needed by humans.
Professor Gavin Thomas, from York’s department of biology, said: ‘Modern deodorants act a bit like a nuclear bomb in our underarms, inhibiting or killing many of the bacteria present to prevent BO.
‘This study, along with our previous research revealing that only a small number of the bacteria in our armpits are actually responsible for bad smells, could result in the development of a more guided weapon that aims to inhibit the transport protein and block the production of BO.’
Body odour contains sulphur, creating the ‘rotten egg’ smell also found in bad breath and rotting food. Strangely, however, the stench of an armpit may once have helped to snare a partner. Coauthor Dr Michelle Rudden, also of York University, said: ‘Body odour might have been attractive rather than repellent in our primate past and used similarly to pheromones to attract mates, which is why it still exists as an evolutionary leftover.’
It has only recently been known that certain species of bacteria cause body odour, rather than the sweat we release ourselves. These microbes like an oily, moist, warm and preferably hairy environment so live only in our armpits.
The new study provides the first in- depth analysis of how these bacteria react with odourless compounds which humans secrete, called conjugated dipeptide thiolalcohols. To create body odour, the microbes need the transport protein to detect and gobble up the sweat compounds.
Now that the researchers, whose study is published in the journal eLife, have identified and decoded the structure of that protein, they need to locate a molecule which can block it, and incorporate that into a roll-on or spray deodorant.