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Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Body odour? Ask your skin microbiome!
Dr Dan Bawdon from the Department of Biology at York, who led the research, said: “This work has significantly advanced our understanding of the specific biochemical processes involved in body odour production. It was surprising that this particular body odour pathway is governed by only a small number of the many bacterial species residing in the underarm. We have opened up the possibility of inhibiting body odour formation using compounds designed to target the specific proteins controlling the release of malodorants.”
While these thioalcohols were long known to be involved in body odour, little was known about the way they were produced by bacteria in the underarm. Traditional deodorants and antiperspirants act by non-selectively killing underarm bacteria or by blocking our sweat glands, respectively. The researchers hope that this new research can be used to produce compounds that specifically target thioalcohol production, leaving the underarm microbiota intact.
Dr Gavin Thomas, the group leader in the Department of Biology at the University of York, said: “This was a really successful project funded through the BBSRC iCASE PhD scheme with microbiologist Dr Gordon James in Unilever, where Dan’s data are already having direct impact on the research being done in the company. The detailed molecular understanding of a process that is happening in our armpits every day and is completely dependent on bacteria is really exciting.”