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Discovery of Human Pheromones

The word pheromone is derived from two Greek words, Pheran (to transfer) and Horman (to excite). Pheromones are complex organic compounds or chemicals secreted externally by an organism to send information to members of the same species. It is used by all animals as a means of communication.

Among the multifaceted animal group, specific pheromones aid the collaboration of individuals for several functions. Just as specific pheromones serve a variety of species-specific purposes, sexual pheromones play a similar role in all species. These pheromones convey sexual excitement and intent to probable mates.

Discovery of pheromones:

During the 1870s, a renowned French naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre observed that male moths flew for a long distance to visit a female moth in his lab. Fabre hypothesized that the female moth was sending out a chemical scent that was attracting the males. Nearly a century later, in 1959, a German chemist Adolf Butenandt successfully isolated the active chemical, bombykol, that allured the male moths.

Human pheromones:

During the 1960s, a group of anatomists at the University of Utah studied the chemistry of the human skin with cells of used arm and leg casts. During the research, one of the researchers noticed that when vials containing these chemicals where left open, the contentious and aggressive attitude of the laboratory researchers began to turned into a cheerful and amity feeling.

Later, when these same vials were closed, the scientists drifted back to their previous habits of competition and isolation. For the next 30 years, scientists researched extensively on this odorless chemical with the ability to change a group of bad-tempered lab workers into a cooperative and energized team.

Human sex pheromones:

Our attractiveness to others is influenced by several aspects like physical charm, age, health, fitness, social status and character. Now, researchers have also revealed the hidden chemistry that controls sexual appeal is nothing but human sex pheromones.

In 1986, Dr. Winnifred Cutler and her colleagues discovered human sex pheromones. They proved that women and men emitted pheromones into the atmosphere and that extracted pheromones could be collected, frozen for over a year, thawed and then applied on the upper lip of receivers to imitate a number of the pheromonal effects established naturally.

This clear odorless liquid is often drowned by modern man with the use of deodorants, aftershaves, perfumes, body sprays, etc. As a result, the fairer sex might find you smelling good but may be not attractive. The solution for this was to use the sex pheromones in fragrances.

Use of pheromones in fragrance:

The cosmetic industry has long tried to include pheromones in several products, especially in various fragrance-related products. These products assure boosting one's sexual attractiveness and aptitude. Several such products contain a real pheromone called androstenone, which is derived from the saliva of pigs. However, the effect of androstenone on humans is not very effective.

After 1986, several researchers at various Senses Centers and research units were able to separate and synthesize the first operational human sex pheromone. The outcome of this research currently exists as the first human-derived, clinically tested pheromone, EroScent. Like most discoveries made to aid mankind, the discovery of human sex pheromones has indeed aided male attractiveness!