For several weeks, it serves as a pathway for hormones vital to sexual development and maturity. However, the VNO in humans shrinks and stops working before birth. Researchers have long suspected that humans communicate with pheromones. But how pheromones are produced and how they are detected across a room, or even greater distances, is poorly understood. One 1998 study at the University of Chicago demonstrated that pheromones in underarm sweat prompt women living in close quarters to synchronize their menstrual cycles.
Some companies put pheromones in perfumes.
Chemical makers bait insect traps with pheromones. Mombaerts said it is too early to tell whether the gene discovery might lead to pheromone-based medicines. However, the potential for pheromone misuse worries some researchers and bioethicists. We won't want pheromones showing up in magazine ads, or pumped through ventilation systems at the mall. The Human Genome Search the Tech Guide Explore our two-week archive.