I was wondering why only 50% of people are genetically inclined to be able to smell scents like almonds? I was watching a forensic science show recently and it was mentioned there referencing how some people cannot smell cyanide. (which has a very strong scent of bitter almonds)
JBW
a sense of smell is not for everyone?
Just a WAG here, but some people are born with the receptors for these odors – and some aren’t. Purely luck of the draw.
It’s that DNA dice throw, that’s the way the numbers came out for that particular human being.
your humble TubaDiva
So be sure to pick your parents very carefully to get the qualities you want.
LOL - thank you!
Are there other scents that those without these receptors can’t smell, or just the bitter almond?
JBW
tanstaafl
I can’t really smell skunk spray. My dog’s been sprayed a few times, and I can smell something, but it’s not a horrible stench or anything. It’s just a smell. As far as I know, I can smell everything else, other than that.
I haven’t been able to smell anything but sulfur and low flashpoint hydrocarbons (ie, gasoline type stuff) since I was 5. I got knocked off of a set of stairs and landed straight on my forehead. No concussion, no loss of consciousness(sp?), just a huge bump. The bump went away and left a dent about 1/4" deep and about 1.5" across. Hasn’t bothered me since. You get used to not being able to smell stuff. Some foods taste odd, too. I can’t tolerate even mildly spicy food, onions still make my eyes water like crazy, but they don’t taste strong.
Jeremy…
Nobody ever calls me after they’ve done something smart.
A good friend of mine got a hairline skull fracture in a motorscooter accident as a teen. When it healed, he lost his sense of smell. As an adult, he was 9/10ths hired by the gas company when he let it slip that he can’t smell. The gas company explained that they can’t hire anyone who can’t smell a gas leak.
–Nott, the large
(I suppose someone will mention Monty Python’s “most dangerous joke.”)
some kinds of ‘not being able to smell something’ are sort of acculturated. you get used to the smells around you, some because they have always been there, some because on a short-term basis your brain shuts off the sensation & looks for new, more interesting things to think about. i’m pretty sure cecil did a column on this but i couldn’t seem to find the exact one.
Speaking of senses and the like, I was wondering…man utilizes five senses: sight, taste, sound, touch and smell, no? (Answer: yes.) Keeping in mind that some people are born without one or more of these abilities, how would one exist if born w/o any senses at all (or maybe just one)? Is that even possible, or would such a shabby neurological state merely be a prelude to death?
If Micheal Crichton steals this idea, he’s in big trouble.
“The Good deserve a higher plane of existence than this life can offer, The Bad an even higher.”
Oh, yes, and as for articles concerning those odors one grows accustomed to, maybe what you’re thinking of is David Feldman’s shocking expose and subsequent investigation into the time-worn inquiry: “What does the inside of our nose smell like?”
I’m serious.
Basically he said you just get used to it. All I know is that, to others, the inside of MY nose smells like a rich meledy of cinammon and vanilla.
I had a friend who was born without a sense of smell. It was related to a hormonal condition that also affected his sex drive, but I cannot recall the name off the top of my head.
Anyway, it really did not seem to trouble him, though he certainly enjoyed food far less than I (is that a drawback or a benefit?). Unfortunately, he later adopted a stray cat that felt his clothes made an admirable substitute for a litter box. Since he the reek of stale cat urine was entirely uinnoticable to him, we sometimes had to send him back home to change before hitting the town. It always embarrassed him, even though there was little he could have done about it short of jettisoning the cat.
The best lack all conviction
The worst are full of passionate intensity.
*
I once dated a guy who had lost his sense of smell after a skateboarding accident. At the time I only half believed him, as he was about a half-believable type of guy. He also said he suddenly became allergic to chocolate after the same incident. I wonder if anyone else has heard of such a thing, or is it even possible?
Some people can smell better than others.
Some people can smell things others can’t, some sort of genetic thing at work there.
A really interesting thing about DNA testing dogs is that the realtionships between breeds can be worked out. It seems that almost 3/4 of all domestic dogs today can trace their ancestry back to a single female dog. Interesting stuff. More complete info can be found at this website
http://www.kc.net/~wolf2dog/dnaid.htm
Pretty interesting stuff.
I too became interested after laying out a chunk of cash for an unusual breed of dog (German Pinscher).
JW
oops, sorry people. My browser and I got confused as to which thread we were on.
Aenea, although this is the wrong thread, I happened to recently notice an article in either Science or Scientific American about a South American Adam or common ancestral male. There also may be a single ancestral Adam for most all rabies because, according to the rules of being a rabbi, both sexes can be rabies; however, only males can transfer being a rabbi. This would transfer the title of rabbi in the exact same way as the Y chromosome is transferred.
You know, doing what is right is easy. The problem is knowing what is right.
–Lyndon B. Johnson
I have little sense of smell and a diminished sense of taste. I have never been hit on the head. I have, however, smoked pot and tobacco for many years. I also used cocaine when I could afford it. It’s been 9 years since I quit smoking, and longer since I quit drugs. These 2 senses are, I fear, permantly damaged.
“On two occasions I have been asked by members of Parliament, `Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?’ I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.” – Charles Babbage
My grandmother had surgery for a brain anuerism (sp?) and lost her since of smell after that.
MaryAnn
No, stupid, it’s a boat!
Check it out. Can you smell well. . .do you just smell at the task?:
http://www.smelltest.com/orderfor.htm
Sorry, if you want to do it over the Internet, you need a smell card. 
Ray
I don’t have a very sensitive sense of smell, i don’t think. Like the OP stated, I’m pretty sure I’ve never smelt almonds. people talk about almond smells a lot, and I really don’t know what that is.
I also don’t smell the strong (to some) scent of flowers usually, and when it comes to cosmetics they really are almost indistinguishable to me (unless it’s like a strawberry scent or something).
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