Animals Use Pheromones to Communicate, but Do Humans?

Some couples just seem to have a certain chemistry together. Research is showing that they might be exactly right.

Scientists now believe they have found the first human gene associated with the function of pheromones, odorless molecules wafting through the air that signal key survival responses in animals, like dealing with danger or finding a mate.

While rodents and other creatures essentially are reactive animals that depend heavily on pheromones for behavioral cues, it has been a topic of debate whether humans kept any pheromone function along the course of evolution. Humans use their larger brains to rely more on judgment and complex sensory cues, such as vision.

Researchers studying animals have shown how pheromones work, tracing complex neurological paths to stimulate parts of the brain that are deeply rooted in instinct.

Scientists have had their suspicions that humans also use pheromones to communicate with each other chemically. But only recently have experts been able to tease out the parts of the human body that might function this way.

Neurogeneticists at Rockefeller University and Yale say they have isolated a human gene, labeled V1RL1, they believe makes a pheromone receptor, or the chemical's personal reserved parking place. Pheromones would attach to this receptor when they are inhaled into the mucous lining in the nose.

"This is the first convincing identification of a human pheromone receptor," said University of Colorado biochemist Joseph Falke, PhD.

Rodents and other mammals also have the V1RL1 gene, and they rely heavily on pheromone cues to survive. However, it has not been determined whether the gene is active in humans or what sort of activity the gene could trigger.

"The ultimate test will be to find a pheromone that binds to the receptor and triggers a measurable physiological response," Falke said. more info...