Washington, Oct 15 (Inditop.com) Each of the world’s 6.7 billion people has a signature body odour. Now scientists are tracking down those odiferous arches for diagnosing diseases and crime prevention.
Scientists are even trying to detect the “smell of deception”, or chemical changes that occur with heightened stress that may help screen and identify — for example, terrorists planning to blow up an airplane and criminals intending to rob a bank.
The report by Ivan Amato describes progress in that direction, explaining that scientists already have identified odours in human breath and skin associated with diabetes, cancer and other diseases.
It points out that police have long used trained dogs to sniff out unique personal scents in pursuing criminals. Scientists now are trying to decipher the chemistry of human odour to develop technology that can detect and classify smells.
That’s a difficult task, says Amato, noting that each person’s odourprint is a complex mixture impacted by multiple environmental factors, including diet and cosmetics.
The report was published in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News, an ACS weekly newsmagazine.
