the times | Tuesday July 28 2020 2GM 17
News
The Ancient Egyptians daubed their
armpits with spices and citrus oils and
millennia later we still douse ourselves
with perfumes and deodorants hoping
to disguise our natural stink.
Now scientists have finally unrav-
elled the biological mechanism behind
body odour.
The breakthrough is not to be sniffed
at: it could pave the way for a new form
of deodorant that prevents pong at its
source.
The aroma is produced when odour-
less molecules are secreted into the
armpits by a particular type of sweat
gland. Bacteria living on the surface of
the skin split these molecules into ami-
no acids, which the bacteria consume,
and a volatile compound known as
thioalcohol.
With a smell often compared to sul-
phur or onions, this incredibly pungent
substance is the main culprit behind the
fetid tang of an unwashed human.
Researchers from the University of
York had previously shown that only a
few types among the armpit’s commu-
Gene scientists on scent of an end to body odour
Rhys Blakely Science Correspondent nity of microbes were involved in thio-
alcohol production.
Their latest study goes a step further
by pinpointing a "BO enzyme”. This
special protein, found only within these
bacteria, is responsible for catalysing
the thioalcohol reaction.
The researchers proved this by splic-
ing the gene responsible for the enzyme
into another innocent microbe also
found in the dank habitat of the armpit.
Once engineered in this way, it too
began to emanate a noxious whiff.
The scientists believe that this
knowledge can be weaponised in hu-
manity's ancient battle against BO. It
should be possible, they say, to find a
small molecule that latches on to the
enzyme and prevents it from working,
thus spelling an end to the stink. Many
drugs already work through this kind of
targeted enzyme inhibition and, unlike
other deodorants that wipe out a broad
array of bacteria, this method could
leave friendly microbes intact.
The research, published in Scientific
Reports, identifies a bacteria known as
Staphylococcus hominis as a key cause of
BO. By looking at its genetic make-up it
was possible to estimate that it acquired
the enzyme some 60 million years ago,
long before the emergence of Homo sa-
piens as a species. “This discovery raises
important questions about the role of
odour production in the evolution of
modern humans,” the researchers
write.
The enzyme clearly benefits the bac-
teria: it helps them access food in the
form of amino acids. Whether it has ev-
er helped the primate hosts is less clear.
In the 1970s Louis Leakey, the late
British anthropologist, said that it was
possible that our hominid ancestors
smelt appalling as a kind of defence
mechanism. Would-be predators mayhave recoiled before our stench, he
suggested.
Michelle Rudden, of the University
of York’s biology department, a co-au-
thor of the study, believes that such an
explanation could make sense.
“I'm not an anthropologist by any
stretch but I love these kinds of
theories,” Dr Rudden said. “I could get
on board with the idea that you’re emit-
ting a smell to ward off predators but
proving it would be very hard.” There
was firmer evidence, she said, that BO
played no useful role in modern
humans. “Because, obviously, we spend
a lot of money trying to get rid of it.”
Leading article, page 27Age-old problem
6 Legend has it that when Cleopatra
sailed to Mark Antony in Tarsus she
scented the sails so her ship could
be smelt before reaching shore.6 An epigram by Catullus illustrates
the Roman view: “Rufus, you are
being hurt by an ugly rumour which
asserts that beneath your armpits
dwells a ferocious goat.”6 The first modern deodorant,
Mum, was patented by an American
investor in 1888.patrick kidd
TMS
[email protected] | @timesdiary
Yorkshire lad
finds his voice
One of the things that Sir Patrick
Stewart most relishes as he writes
his memoirs is the chance to
rediscover his old voice. Born in
the West Riding of Yorkshire,
Stewart didn’t always have the
growling received pronunciation
that he picked up with the RSC.
“When I was young I spoke with a
north country accent,” the actor
says. “But more than an accent, I
spoke dialect. We said ‘thee’ and
‘thou’. That was everyday
language.” Stewart, who will
narrate the audiobook, tells
Empire he is “looking forward to
being a Yorkshireman again”. His
family are less convinced. “They
tell me my Yorkshire accent is
now dreadful,” he says. “It sounds
completely artificial.” Nothing that
a pint of Tetley’s and some
dripping on toast won’t put right.The trouble with narrating your
own books is when you come to the
sex scenes. Alan Titchmarsh has a
sideline in romantic novels that, as
you expect from a gardener, can be
earthy. This was fine, he tells the Tea
with Twiggy podcast, until he did
the audiobook. As he read aloud his
horny-handed prose he realised the
only person with him was “a large,
bearded gent” checking the sound
levels. Quite the passion killer.jfk’s fight with the closet
The late Olivia de Havilland’s
mother, Lilian, referred to the
afterlife as “a celestial cocktail
party”. If so, I wonder whether
John F Kennedy will have greeted
her daughter with a large martini
yesterday. The future US
president tried and failed
to woo De Havilland in
1945, visiting her house
in LA and giving her the
brooding eyeball before
decisively flinging open
what he thought was the
outside door in hope ofwhisking her off to dinner. Instead
he opened a closet from which
hats and tennis rackets rained
down on his head. After she
declined his invitation, JFK asked
a friend if “walking into the closet”
was what cost him. At least, unlike
others in Hollywood at the time,
he wasn’t in it to begin with.De Havilland was the oldest woman
to receive a damehood when she
was honoured just before her 101st
birthday. It was sought for her by
the biographer Roger Lewis, with
the help of Michael Gove, after he
courted her for an interview. Even
at that age she had a Hollywood
star’s precise requirements. Lewis
recalls that when he sent flowers to
her home in Paris she insisted the
water in the vase had to be Evian.lyrical lib dem
Mark Pack is an optimist. You
have to be as president of the
Liberal Democrats. Asked by
Politics of Sound to choose a
favourite song as his party’s
anthem, Pack nominated Good as
Gold by the Beautiful South,
saying that lyrics like “the hill to
happiness is far too steep, I’ll carry
on regardless” sum up the Lib
Dem experience of ploughing on
in adversity. Less positively, the
song has the subtitle Stupid as Mud
and it appears on the album Solid
Bronze, which sums up the party’s
perpetual poll position.dilyn puts bite on bbc
Dilyn the Downing Street dog
showed a lot of interest in the
BBC’s interview with his owner on
Friday. As Laura Kuenssberg’s
team were setting up the shoot in
the garden of No 10, the Jack
Russell, below, slipped in and stole
a microphone, battery and some
gaffer tape before giving a
tripod case a heavy
chewing, contrary to
Boris’s dietary advice.
Makes Dominic
Cummings look almost
house-trained.