[Prazu (OP)]

The following questions concern Human Pheromones and I'm trying to get info for my Hon. Bio paper.  If you could answer all of them, I'd greatly appreciate it. Greatly.

1. When it comes down to it, some say yes and some say no about the existence of Human Pheromones. Do you feel they exist? Why?

2. I've read about the tests done with college females and how living together causes them to develop the same menstrual cycle.  What other tests have been done to try and prove Human Pheromones exist?

3. Can you think of a time that has happened to do, where Human Pheromones have come into play?

4. Are there products you can buy that contain pheromones? What are they and what are the uses?

[NakedScientist]

Here are some general references to get you going :

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/html/shows/2000.09.03.htm

This has an article (under full length text) about the development of a new kind of pheromone-impregnated face-wipe developed to help clubbers boost their pulling powe.

Also, check out "The Language of Genes" by Professor Steve Jones, from University College London. I bought my copy in Baltimore whilst I was in the States for a conference. It's a fantastic book with a host of references to the concepts of body odours, pheromones and sexual attraction - both amongst people and animals. You might want to read, in particular, the chapters about mice mating, the Hutterites and the Amish populations.

The best reference to read about pheromones in action is a paper in Nature from April 2000 by Kathleen Stern and Martha McClintock. They demonstrated that substances secreted in womens' armpits could influence the menstrual cycle of a second group of women when they were exposed to the odours. This helps to cast some light on the observation that women living together eventually synchronise. Unless they are on the pill of course.

To hear the master at work check out Peter Brennan's contribution to the naked scientists. This page has links to his interview - which is all about pheromones (you'll need realplayer to listen to it) - plus his articles in the columns sections which are also useful background information.

Interview :
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/html/guestfile/peterbrennan.htm

Articles :
www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/articles/article/peterbrennancolumn2.htm

If you still have any questions outstanding, come back to us.

TNS

[chris]

Additional pheromone references on the site include :

Breast feeding mothers make women broody - a pheromone-driven phenomenon :

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/html/shows/2002.04.28.htm#3

Overview of the 'mechanics' of sexual attraction - Column by Adel Fattah :

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/articles/article/adelcolumn2.htm

Reference for the pheromone-impregnated face wipes intended to help clubbers push up their pulling power on the dance floor :

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/html/shows/2000.09.03.htm

Hope these help,

Chris

[Dee]

I am also writing a paper for my Honors Biology course. And, I have a question.

How does cleaning diminish the affect of our pheromones (besides the obvious washing them off)?

[chris]

If you wash them off they cannot work. In some respects we do ourselves no favours through our obsession with cleanliness and sterility !

But it's worth remembering that these molecules are active at tiny concentrations, so even if you washed them off, they would soon reaccumulate to functional levels.

Chris

"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception"
 - Groucho Marx

[Dee]

Thanks. That's what I figured, but needed to be sure.[]