(CNN) -- The power of smell is undeniable, as the
multi-billion dollar perfume industry testifies. But is it possible that
humans are influenced by airborne chemicals undetectable as odors,
called pheromones?
Though any number of animals and insects use pheromones
to communicate with each other about important things such as food,
territory and sex, the idea that humans might be similarly influenced
has been controversial among scientists.
But now, researchers at the University of Chicago say
they have the first proof that humans produce and react to pheromones.
In findings published in the journal Nature, researchers
say they found that female ovulation can be regulated -- made longer or
shorter -- through the use of pheromones.
"The pheromones regulate the time of ovulation.
There are two pheromones -- one that makes ovulation more likely and the
other that suppresses it and makes it less likely," said Martha
McClintock of the University of Chicago.
There could be important practical implications from
this finding. Because pheromones influence the release of eggs,
researchers say they may provide a more natural way of preventing
pregnancy or treating infertility.
However, researchers say more study is needed to find
out if there are other types of pheromones and if they are as powerful
in humans as they are in other species.
One enduring mystery of pheromones is that if they are
undetectable by the human sense of smell, how can humans be influenced
by them?
The answer, some researchers believe, is
that pheromones are detected by the same nerve cells in the nose used to
detect odor or perhaps by another structure in the nose called the
vomeronasal organ.
Medical Correspondent Rhonda Rowland contributed to
this report.
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