Human gender can be determined by hand odor: scientists show how it works
Everyone has their smell, and it can be used to determine the gender of the owner even without seeing their appearance. Scientists claim that this can be done with the help of a special device for analyzing proteins.
The study, published by PLOS ONE, involved 30 men and 30 women. To do this, they took odor samples from their palms.
A team of scientists from the Global Center for Forensics and Justice at Florida International University analyzed the odor samples using various static methods to correctly determine a person's gender.
They swabbed the palms of their hands with cotton gauze swabs an hour or more after they last washed their hands. After testing the samples, the researchers compared several statistical analyses, one of which predicted gender with 96.67% accuracy.
Human hands have an odor that consists of volatile chemicals (compounds that can evaporate). Also, oily skin secretions can leave traces on surfaces along with fingerprints and DNA particles.
According to the scientists, this method can be used in future forensic investigations if there is a lack of other biological samples. However, they warn that much more research needs to be done to improve the technology.
An experiment was also conducted to show that well-trained dogs can recognize a person who has touched an object at a crime scene by smell.
"Even in cases where no physical fingerprints or DNA are found, evidence from a person's odor can be recovered and used as an individualizing feature in an investigation," the scientists say.
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