Material World - 12/02/2009

Quentin Cooper finds out if humans can sense pheromones, the subliminal chemical language of scents that is a key means of communication between animals. It is 50 years since the term was first used, and scientists now know how powerful such signals can be, or rather, how sensitive some creatures' noses are to the chemicals. Even before the word pheromone was invented, Charles Darwin showed how the smelliest crocodiles, ducks, goats and elephants were better at attracting mates. Pheromones even work under water, between lobsters for example. Do humans make and use their own pheromones? We use a host of expensive scents and deodorants to conceal, augment or replace our bodily odour, but, suprisingly, no definite human pheromone has been isolated and identified. But it seems clear they must exist, otherwise, for example, how else would groups of women living in close proximity synchronise their menstruation?