I’ll add that to the list of genes I want knocked out when CRISPR gets good enough.
Eh, it’s probably good enough for this. Go for it.
We can do this on isolated cells, but I really don’t think we have a way to distribute such a change across the zillions of cells in a human body.
And even if we could, it’s not clear how much effect altering the gene after the fact would have. Maybe once your apocrine glands have obeyed the gene and developed a certain way, it’s too late.
That said… Sign me the hell up.
isnt crispr itself the way to distribute it?
CRISPR makes gene editing easier, but unless you’ve got a way to deliver it to every cell, it won’t do much unless you’re targeting such a small number of cells that it’s realistic to have a technician physically inject it into a cell.
That would work for an embryo. Ignoring the plethora of ethical issues and the lack of data on long-term effects, it would probably be pretty easy for a scientist to make the change in an embryo and then go through the normal in-vitro fertilization procedure.
For a whole organism, though, it’s more difficult. One obvious solution is a specially modified virus, and that’s under research.
There’s a lot of stuff here if you want to dive deep:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7356196/#sec3-biomolecules-10-00839title
One of the best explanations of this and an actual demonstration of the technology to do this was done In this video on curing lactose intolerance (not permanently).
Whats even crazier is that this video was published 6 years ago and the paper you referenced is 4 years old. With the speed that genetics research is going, both of these are certainly very outdated resources even if the background is mostly the same.
That’s pretty impressive. I hadn’t even thought oral treatments were possible!
It’s amazing.
We can’t make enough. And crispr is for inside cells, there is another layer needed for getting it there, like a virus shell for example.
Well, The Thought Emporium made a pill with a virus that modified the genome in at least some of his cells, and made him lactose tolerant for a year and after that he was left significantly more able to handle lactose than before.
So it’s absolutely possible to some degree, for some gene manipulation at least.
Life pro tip for those who do stink when they sweat:
If you ever find yourself in a pinch, and either you forgot deodorant or it wore off (it’s bullshit that these deodorants last 24+ hours), you can use hand sanitizer as makeshift deodorant. The isopropyl alcohol in the hand sanitizer will also kill the bacteria that breaks down those lipids that cause the odor. You can also substitute rubbing alcohol for deodorant and it generally lasts longer.
Can I just rub some Asian people on me?
The pro tip that we had to give out in college for the newcomers to the ballroom team every semester to mitigate body odor (edit: done in exactly this order):
- Shower with soap.
- Apply deodorant with antiperspirant.
- Put on clean clothes.
You would be surprised how many people in college don’t understand the nuances of these points. Or other basically accepted hygiene practices of the area. For example, cologne or perfume is not “deodorant”. Also, most things are not clean after you wear them (esp if you sweat), and dont become clean again until they are laundered. You may also notice we had to specify “with soap” for a shower.
The bit about antiperspirant is not strictly necessary, but nobody wants to put their hand near or accidentally in a sweaty pit.
Antiperspirant doesn’t agree with my skin, so I use a normal deodorant, but otherwise I fully agree.
I would add: do these steps in this specific order.
Yeah that’s how it is pitched. Also why I picked numbers and not bullets, but I suppose I could have been more explicit.
✋dysfunction?
👉enhancement
In a genetic sense, it is a dysfunction of the gene that causes this. It’s neat because we can actually trace the history of human migrations by looking at the distribution of this particular allele (version of a gene). We have analysed DNA from ancient remains of early Europeans and found that the A allele is absent. It appears like this version of the gene first emerged in an ancient East Asian population.
This gene also determines whether you have dry or sticky ear wax. It’s a neat gene because it’s uncommon for physical human traits to be controlled by one gene — most human characteristics are controlled by multiple genes (polygenic traits); ginger hair is another example of a monogenic trait. ABCC11 is neat because it affects multiple traits: sweat smell and earwax dryness.
It might also be implicated in breast cancer risk (I can’t tell whether that’s in an increased risk or decreased risk), but we don’t really understand yet how that would work. From skimming the research, I would say we generally don’t understand how this gene works at all. We do know some stuff about it and how/why it works, but we’re still a decent way off of actually understanding its implications.
hold on what’s the connection between the two? what type of earwax is present in people with less body odor?
I don’t have an answer for you, but I love how seemingly random it is. Like someone reached into a raffle bowl and was like “Okay ABCC11 you get… Earwax and <shuffles around> …ah. Body odor”.
Or you get body odor and… alas, earwax!
Maybe affects the kind of bacteria that can grow on your body? That’s where the smell in your armpits come from and earwax stops bacteria.
Did you know that you can click the headline to get to an actual article that you can read, which answers this question?
guilty! should have read it before commenting blindly
for everyone else reading,
a dysfunctional ABCC11 gene is also connected to drier, less goopy earwax. “So less of that means less body odor, and also translates to dry earwax.”
Is this specificly East Asian? Cause I had an Indian roommate once and that dude could knock out half the city with his stretch.
Yes. It is. The article specifically calls out east asia.
That should be in the title. Asia is huge.
A lot of that is diet and, of course, hygiene. Having 10% less BO doesn’t do anything for you if you’re not showering, or eating garlic gloves whole.
Never eat whole garlic gloves: they’re simply too powerful
Yah, wow, some Indians need to have some intervention done. I know plenty of Indians that are perfectly fine, and then there’s a subset that smell like me after a 2 week solo backpacking trip.
I’m East Asian. My ex (also Asian) said I smelled bad sometimes after exercising, but my current partner (not Asian) says I don’t have any body odor. I do think that when we go to the gym together, their smell far outweighs mine. I can’t smell myself at all, but then again, people are usually habituated to their own scents.
Sometimes, though, when I was a child, my father would come home from the gym, and we could all smell him from a mile away. I don’t know if that’s because the gene skipped him or if it’s just because humans generally think their close family members are stinky.
It’s nice to talk about this when my armpits aren’t in danger of being sniffed by several drunk friends.
I can’t smell myself at all, but then again, people are usually habituated to their own scents.
A feature, not a bug
Dysfunction ? More liked improved function…can I get the same treatment please?
I somehow got this . I never wear deodorant and don’t get any BO even after a crazy sweaty day .
Just make sure you’re getting some outside feedback on that, I’ve known folks so used to their own “brand” that they just couldn’t tell. Smelled utterly rank and couldn’t be convinced of it.
Try telling that to the 5-20% of the guys at my gym in Korea who are absolutely ripe. The problem with having most of your population not have major BO is that those that do generally have trouble dealing with it.
I’ll assume east Asians. As you head not too far away from the Pacific, the rest of Asia starts needing deodorant quite badly.
And some Koreans need no deodorant at all.
Many Asians in fact
A decade ago, it was damn near impossible to get actual deodorant, not antiperspirant, in Korea. I had to get folks from The States to mail me Old Spice occasionally.
My partner, Filipino, doesn’t need it either. She uses lime sometimes. Yes, really.
One of the most disgusting things I have ever read was from a guy on IRC who said he never bathed: “Women are attracted to my natural musk.” (He also claimed to be ‘voluntarily celibate.’ This was long before incels were a thing.)
so he was a stinky priest
Nope. He was an atheist. That was the IRC channel we were in. I think he was only “voluntarily” celibate because he was a miserable bastard that no one would want to be around even if he didn’t also stink.
The funny thing about these kinds of atheists is that they always have to tell you what they believe in 🤭
I was wondering why I’ve never been too stinky
I have a friend that isn’t asian that’s like this, dude just bathes, no deodorant necessary, I was incredulous until I discovered this last year. It’s just extremely rare in the western world.
