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DOUBLE TAKE NOSE NEWS The scent of a man Taking the Pill can
make a woman sniff out a partner who’s genetically inappropriate, says
British research The Globe and
Mail, BY PHILIP JACKMAN A
woman taking the Pill is more likely to
choose a I\man
who is genetically wrong for her because
of her altered perception of his odour, according to
new research. A
British study says women are naturally
attracted through their sense of smell
to men who are genetically dissimilar to
them. It's a way to diversify the gene
pool and produce children who; for
example, have stronger immune systems. It's due to a group of about 140 genes in an area called the major histocompatibility
complex that plays a key role in odour
through interaction with skin bacteria. But
the hormones in the Pill can alter a
woman's ability to sniff out a suitable
mate and make her feel more attracted to men who are genetically similar. Oversimilar gene profiles can result in difficulty trying to conceive,
an increased risk of miscarriage and a
weaker immune system, earlier research has
shown. Furthermore,
the new study says, if the woman stops
taking the Pill, it could lead to
"partnership breakdown" when she realizes she has chosen Mr. Wrong. Craig
Roberts, a lecturer in biological
sciences at the University of Liverpool and the lead author of the study, said in a telephone interview yester-day that the research
arose from a study in the mid-1990s "that was aimed at seeing whether humans could do the same thing as, for example, mice. Could females pick out the smell of genetically similar or dissimilar males?" The
research suggested that humans could,
but the findings were inconclusive
because, among other things, the sample of only 18 Pill users was statistically too small. So
a team led by Dr. Roberts, who was at
the The
male scents were drawn from 97
volunteers who were told to avoid using
deodorants and were provided with
non-perfumed soap. They also had to be
non-smokers. "We
found that the preferences of women having gone on the Pill shifted toward genetic similarity,"
Dr. Roberts said. "It suggests that
it is specifically the hormonal levels within
the Pill" that produce this effect. Oral
contraceptives combine two hormones,
estrogen and progestogen, to inhibit normal female fertility. But
what effect can all this have on a
couple's relation-ship? It
does carry potential implications "both in terms of successful
pregnancies - carrying babies to term -
and potential-ly in terms of your relationship quality," Dr. Roberts said. He
also pointed to a So
would it be a good idea for a woman
who's planning to walk down the aisle to
stop taking the Pill for a while be-fore
the nuptials? "While
I wouldn't presume to tell women what to
do," Dr. Roberts said, "a
period of assessment using non-hormonal contraceptives"
might be worth considering. The
study, co-authored by L. Morris Gosling,
Vaughan Carter and Marion Petrie, was
pub-lished in the science journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.
)) With a report from
Agence France-Presse |
